Olivia Hussey, born Olivia Osuna, is an Argentinian actress who became famous for her role as
Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Academy Award-winning 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet, winning
a Golden Globe and also the David di Donatello Award for best actress.
She is also well known for her role as Mary, the mother of Jesus in the 1977 TV production
of Jesus of Nazareth.
She has starred in films such as Black Christmas, Death on the Nile, Virus and Turkey Shoot.
Early life Hussey was born Olivia Osuna in Buenos Aires,
Argentina, to Joy Alma, a British legal secretary and Andrés Osuna, an Argentine tango singer,
who divorced when Olivia was two.
She was brought up as a Catholic, and when she was seven years old, Hussey and her younger
brother went with their mother to live in London, where she attended the Italia Conti
Academy drama school for five years.
Career Assuming her mother's maiden name as her stage
name, Hussey appeared on the London stage as Jenny in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,
opposite Vanessa Redgrave.
It was during the run of this play that Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli first spotted
her because of her beauty and theatrical skill.
Chosen out of 500 actresses, she appeared in her first starring role, as Juliet in Zeffirelli's
1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet, opposite Leonard Whiting's Romeo.
In 1969 she won a special David di Donatello Award and the Golden Globe Award for New Star
of the Year - Actress.
Hussey has appeared in over forty films.
She played the leading role of Jessica Bradford in the Canadian horror film, Black Christmas,
which became influential as a forerunner of the slasher film genre of horror films.
She played Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television production of Jesus of Nazareth.
In 1978 she played Rosalie Otterbourne in Death on the Nile with Peter Ustinov.
She also starred as Marit in the Japanese film Virus, and played Rebecca of York in
the 1982 remake of Ivanhoe.
In 1990 Hussey played Norma Bates, the mother of Norman Bates, in Psycho IV: The Beginning,
a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho.
In 2003 she played the lead in a film adaptation of the life of Mother Teresa, for which she
was presented with a Character & Morality in Entertainment Award on 12 May 2007 in Hollywood.
Voice work Hussey was nominated for "Outstanding Individual
Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production" at the
Annie Awards for her work in Batman Beyond, as Talia Al Ghul.
She also voiced the character of Kasan Moor in the PC game, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.
She was also in Star Wars: The Old Republic as Jedi Master Yuon Par.
Personal life
In 1971, Hussey married actor Dean Paul Martin, son of the singer Dean Martin.
They had a son, Alexander Gunther Martin, in 1973, before divorcing in 1978.
Dean Paul Martin died in 1987 when his National Guard F-4 Phantom jet fighter crashed in California's
San Bernardino Mountains during a snowstorm.
In 1980, Hussey married Japanese musician Akira Fuse, consisted of two ceremonies at
home in Los Angeles and an Indian wedding in Miami.
She had one son, Max.
Divorced from Fuse in 1989, she married in 1991 American musician David Glen Eisley,
a son of the late actor Anthony Eisley.
In October 1993, she gave birth to a daughter, India Eisley, now an actress.
She has suffered from agoraphobia.
Filmography Awards and nominations
Annie Awards 2001: Nominated, "Outstanding Individual Achievement
for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production" - Batman
Beyond David di Donatello Awards
1969: Won, "Best Actress" - Romeo and Juliet Golden Globe Awards
1969: Won, "Most Promising Female Newcomer" - Romeo and Juliet
Laurel Awards 1970: Nominated, "Female New Face" - Romeo
and Juliet References
External links Official website
Olivia Hussey on Twitter Olivia Hussey at the Internet Movie Database