There were several important actors in the 1968 film Romeo and Juliet. These actors include Leonard Whiting, Olivia Hussey, Milo O'Shea, Pat Heywood, John McEnery, Robert Stephens, Michael York, and Bruce Robinson.
Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo, Claire Danes as Juliet.
Leonardo diCaprio, who starred in the movie Titanic, also played Romeo in a film version of Romeo and Juliet (1996).
Franco Zeffirelli
The song which was the main love theme from Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet was known at the time as "What is a Youth" and nowadays is more usually called "A Time for Us"
There have been several films. Zefferelli's of about 1968 is well-known.
The singer of "A Time for Us" in the 1968 film "Romeo and Juliet" is the renowned Italian singer and actor, Johnny Mathis. Mathis recorded the song for the film's soundtrack, which has since become one of his most famous and beloved recordings. His smooth and emotive vocals perfectly captured the romantic essence of the film and the timeless love story of Romeo and Juliet.
No screenplay of any of the numerous films of Romeo and Juliet (1936, 1955, 1968, 1996, 2013, 2014) was even nominated for an Oscar. The 1955 film was nominated for a BAFTA award for its screenplay. And the 1968 film won two Oscars for costume and cinematography, but not for screenplay.
The modern version of William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet was directed by Baz Luhrmann. The film was released in 1996 and starred Leonardo DiCaprio and Claire Danes in the lead roles.
Rosaline
There have been a whole bunch of Romeo and Juliet films. Some of the more famous ones were released in 1935, 1955, 1968 and 1996. I enjoy them all. And there is a new one coming soon.
The Hollywood film that has a similar plot to Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" is "West Side Story." Both stories revolve around a forbidden love affair between two young individuals from rival groups, leading to tragic consequences. "West Side Story" is a musical adaptation set in New York City, while "Romeo and Juliet" is a classic play set in Verona, Italy. Both narratives explore themes of love, conflict, and societal divisions.
The first two people to play Romeo and Juliet were Richard Burbage and some teenaged boy whose name we don't know for sure but might have been Robert Goffe. Burbage played Romeo and the boy played Juliet. This took place about 1595. The first woman Juliet was Mary Saunderson in 1662, playing opposite Henry Harris. The first woman to play Romeo was Charlotte Cushman, an American, in 1845, playing opposite her sister Susan. Romeo and Juliet first appeared on film in 1908, in three different films: one with Mario and Maria Casserini made in Italy, one with Saul Panzer and Florence Laurence (the first film star) made in the USA, and one with Geoffrey Tearle and Mary Malone made in Britain. The first talking film of the play was made in 1936 with Norma Shearer and Leslie Howard. IMdb lists thirty-nine films with the characters of Romeo and Juliet before Zeffirelli's 1968 film, so that film was not even close to being close to the "first" Romeo and Juliet in any possible sense.