Olivia Hussey

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Olivia Hussey
Olivia Hussey, 2007
Born	Olivia Osuna (1951-04-17) April 17, 1951 (age 61) Buenos Aires, Argentina
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1965–present
Spouse	Dean Paul Martin (1971-1978) Akira Fuse (1980-1989) David Glen Eisley (1991-present)
Parents	Andrés Osuna (father) Joy Alma Hussey (mother)
Relatives	Andrew Osuna (brother)

Olivia Hussey (born 17 April 1951) 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. For this role she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actress as well as the David di Donatello 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 (1974), Death on the Nile (1978), and Virus (1980).

Early life

Hussey was born Olivia Osuna in Buenos Aires, Argentina, the daughter of Joy Alma (née Hussey), a British legal secretary, and Andrés Osuna (aka Osvaldo Ribó), an Argentine tango singer,^[1] who divorced when Olivia was two. She was raised Catholic,^[2] 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. Hussey later said that her biggest fear in Romeo and Juliet (1968) was appearing nude.

Career

Olivia Hussey as Juliet in Romeo and Juliet, 1968

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 40 films. She played the leading role of Jessica Bradford in the 1974 Canadian horror film, Black Christmas. The film became very influential as a forerunner of the Slasher film genre of horror films. She played Mary, the mother of Jesus in the 1977 TV production of Jesus of Nazareth (her second work for director Zeffirelli). 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 TV remake of Ivanhoe.

In 1990 Hussey played Norma Bates, the mother of Norman Bates in Psycho IV: The Beginning, a TV prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. In 2003 Hussey played the lead in a film adaptation on the life of Mother Teresa, for which she was presented with a CAMIE award (for Character & Morality in Entertainment) on 12 May 2007 in Hollywood.

Voice work

She 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 Guhl. She also voiced the character Kasan Moor in the PC game, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Personal life

Hussey with her daughter India (right) and husband David Glen Eisley (left) at Cinema City Film Festival

In 1971 Hussey married actor Dean Paul Martin, son of the singer Dean Martin. They had a son, Alexander Dean Martin (later an actor), in 1973, before divorcing in 1978. Dean Paul Martin died in 1987 when his National Guard F-4 Phantom fighter jet crashed in California's San Bernardino Mountains during a snowstorm.

In 1980, Hussey married Japanese musician Akira Fuse, and had one son, Max (born 1983). Divorced from Fuse in 1989, she married American musician David Glen Eisley in 1991. In October 1993, she gave birth to a daughter, India Eisley, now an actress.

She has suffered from agoraphobia.^[3] Sister in law of Jonathan Erickson Eisley

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 at the Internet Movie Database
• Olivia Hussey at AllRovi