LONDON (AP) — Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet within the 1968 movie “Romeo and Juliet,” has died, her household stated on social media Saturday. She was 73.
Hussey died on Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,” a press release posted to her Instagram account stated.
Hussey was 15 when director Franco Zeffirelli solid her in his adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy after recognizing her onstage within the play “The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” which additionally starred Vanessa Redgrave.
“Romeo and Juliet” gained two Oscars and Hussey gained a Golden Globe for greatest new actress for her half as Juliet, reverse British actor Leonard Whiting, who was 16 on the time.
A long time later Hussey and Whiting introduced a lawsuit in opposition to Paramount Footage alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud over nude scenes within the movie.
They alleged that they have been initially informed they’d put on flesh-colored undergarments in a bed room scene, however on the day of the shoot Zeffirelli informed the pair they’d put on solely physique make-up and that the digicam could be positioned in a approach that will not present nudity. They alleged they have been filmed within the nude with out their information.
The case was dismissed by a Los Angeles County choose in 2023, who discovered their depiction couldn’t be thought of youngster pornography and the pair filed their declare too late.
Hussey was born on April 17, 1951, in Bueno Aires, Argentina, and moved to London as a toddler.
She additionally starred as Mary, mom of Jesus, within the 1977 tv sequence “Jesus of Nazareth,” and in the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile.”
She is survived by her husband, David Glen Eisley, her three youngsters and a grandson.
