LONDON (AP) 鈥� Olivia Hussey, the actor who starred as a teenage Juliet in the 1968 film 鈥淩omeo and Juliet,鈥� has died, her family said on social media Saturday. She was 73.
Hussey died on Friday, 鈥減eacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones,鈥� a statement posted to her Instagram account said.
Hussey was 15 when director Franco Zeffirelli cast her in his adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy after spotting her onstage in the play 鈥淭he Prime of Miss Jean Brodie," which also starred Vanessa Redgrave.
鈥淩omeo and Juliet鈥� won two Oscars and Hussey won a Golden Globe for best new actress for her part as Juliet, opposite British actor Leonard Whiting, who was 16 at the time.
Decades later Hussey and Whiting alleging sexual abuse, sexual harassment and fraud over nude scenes in the film.
They alleged that they were initially told they would wear flesh-colored undergarments in a bedroom scene, but on the day of the shoot Zeffirelli told the pair they would wear only body makeup and that the camera would be positioned in a way that would not show nudity. They alleged they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge.
The by a Los Angeles County judge in 2023, who found their depiction could not be considered child pornography and the pair filed their claim too late.
Whiting was among those paying tribute to Hussey on Saturday. 鈥淩est now my beautiful Juliet no injustices can hurt you now. And the world will remember your beauty inside and out forever," he wrote.
Hussey was born on April 17, 1951, in Bueno Aires, Argentina, and moved to London as a child. She studied at the Italia Conti Academy drama school.
She also starred as Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television series 鈥淛esus of Nazareth," as well as the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie鈥檚 鈥淒eath on the Nile" and horror movies 鈥淏lack Christmas鈥� and 鈥淧sycho IV: The Beginning.鈥�
She is survived by her husband, David Glen Eisley, her three children and a grandson.
Sylvia Hui, The Associated Press
