Olivia Hussey, captivating star of Romeo and Juliet, dies aged 73

Actor shot to fame after being cast in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play when she was just 15

Olivia Hussey, who mesmerised audiences as the female lead in Franco Zeffirelli’s 1968 adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, has died aged 73.

The news was shared from her official Instagram account in a statement that said the Argentina-born star died “at home, surrounded by her loved ones”.

Hussey was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2008 and underwent a double mastectomy. The illness returned in 2017 and she underwent treatment to remove a small tumour growing between her heart and lungs.

“Olivia was a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her,” her family’s statement said.

It continued: “Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness towards animals.”

Hussey, who grew up in London, was just 15 when she was discovered by Zeffirelli while performing opposite Vanessa Redgrave in a stage production of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie.

The director had been searching for someone young enough to play a convincing Juliet, in what he hoped would become the defining film adaptation of Shakespeare’s play.

Hussey was cast opposite 16-year-old British actor Leonard Whiting as Romeo in the Oscar-nominated film, which also earnt her a Golden Globe for New Star of the Year.

Olivia Hussey and Leonard Whiting at the London premiere of ‘Romeo and Juliet’, 1968 (Getty Images)

Decades later, Hussey and Whiting sued Paramount Pictures, alleging that Zeffirelli – who died in 2019 – had duped them into appearing in nude scenes despite being told they would not be required to.

The lawsuit said the two plaintiffs continued to suffer “physical and mental pain, along with extreme and severe mental anguish and emotional distress”, due to their experiences on set.

A judge dismissed the case, in which the pair sought damages of more than $500m (£417m), last year, finding the scene in question was not “sufficiently sexually suggestive”.

Zeffirelli with Hussey and Whiting on the set of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ (Alamy)

Hussey worked with Zeffirelli once more in 1977 for Jesus of Nazareth, in which she starred as the Virgin Mary.

She received recognition as a scream queen thanks to her roles in early slasher film Black Christmas and the TV movie Psycho IV: The Beginning, starring as Norman Bates’s mother in the latter.

Later on in her career, she found consistent work as a voice actor in video games for the Star Wars, Batman and Superman franchises.

Her final film credit saw her career come full circle in the 2015 film Social Suicide, a modern take on Romeo and Juliet, in which she was reunited onscreen for the first time with Whiting. Her real-life daughter, India Eisley, played her daughter, Julia.

Whiting and Hussey pictured together in 2019 (2018 Invision)

Hussey published a memoir, The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life After Romeo and Juliet, in 2018.

In an interview with Fox News to promote the book, she said she had found the attention over the film “very overwhelming... even when we were shooting, we had reporters waiting for an interview during our lunch and tea breaks”.

“I couldn’t really spend my teenage years like other teenagers,” she continued. “Everyone would come up to us for a photo, an autograph. But it was the experience of a lifetime, really.”

She remained lifelong friends with Whiting, whom she briefly dated, and said they would communicate “at least once every 10 days”.

“Olivia, we have shared so much since we were two sweet innocent children clinging onto each other for dear life, as every photo of us attests to,” he wrote in the comments section of the Instagram post announcing her death.

“You have never been frightened of fighting to fix everything wrong in this world. Rest now my beautiful Juliet no injustices can hurt you now. And the world will remember your beauty inside and out forever. Leonard.”

Hussey is survived by David Glen Eisley, her husband of 35 years, her children, Alex, Max and India, and her grandson, Greyson.