Olivia Hussey the Romeo and Juliet star dies at 73
By Sajar Nafees
01 January 2025
Olivia Hussey, who rose to international stardom as a teenager for her passionate portrayal of Juliet in the 1968 film adaptation of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet, passed away on December 27 at her home in Los Angeles. She was 73.
Olivia Hussey cause of death was breast cancer as given in statement by her family.
Olivia Hussey Romeo and Juliet is what people know about her but Olivia Hussey diverse career included playing a terrorized target in the influential slasher film Black Christmas (1974) and taking on religious roles, such as Mary in Franco Zeffirelli’s miniseries Jesus of Nazareth (1977) and the title role in the 2003 biopic Mother Teresa, portraying the Catholic saint who served the poor in Calcutta, now Kolkata.
Despite Olivia Hussey ‘s many roles, nothing matched the whirlwind success of her performance as the lovestruck and determined Juliet Capulet in Zeffirelli’s Romeo and Juliet. Reflecting on the experience in a 2018 People magazine interview, Hussey said, “So much happened so fast. It was overnight superstardom, and I wasn’t prepared for it.”
In public, Olivia Hussey balanced an image of youthful innocence with a touch of worldly glamour. At a promotional event in Chicago for Romeo and Juliet, she playfully twirled her long chestnut hair while chatting about dating a French singer, embodying a mix of charm and naivety. In Britain, she once rested her tired feet on Prince Charles’s lap for a foot rub. “He was so sweet,” she later recalled.
Olivia Hussey romeo and juliet admitted it took time for her to connect with Shakespeare’s poetic style. In a 1968 interview, she confessed, “I thought Shakespeare was dull, boring, and old-fashioned, and I couldn’t make heads or tails of it.”
Her co-star, Leonard Whiting, who played Romeo, playfully responded, “But Miss Hussey, what a way to speak of the immortal bard.”
Director Franco Zeffirelli discovered Hussey after seeing her in a 1966 stage production of Muriel Spark’s The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie in London’s West End, where she performed alongside Vanessa Redgrave. Following two auditions, Zeffirelli selected her to play Juliet opposite Whiting.
Both young actors were largely unknown at the time, but they perfectly fit Zeffirelli’s vision. He wanted to capture the raw intensity of youthful love by casting performers close in age to Shakespeare’s characters. (The original Juliet was nearly 14; Hussey was 15 and Whiting 16 when filming began.)
Olivia Hussey cause of death indeed was painful and we couldn’t be more sad for her demise. And truly no one can ever play Juliet as she did. For us Olivia hussy Romeo and Juliet and Romeo Juliet Olivia Hussey. It cannot be pictured any other way.