Hassi Olivia is the best Juliet. Filmography and biography of Olivia Hussey

2024 Author: Leah Sherlock | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 05:25

The parents of the future star Olivia Hussey, who was born in 1951, on April 17, were the Argentine opera singer, the famous tenor Andreas Osuna, and the British citizen Joy Hussey. They divorced when Olivia was very young, after which the mother took the child from Buenos Aires to England. From that moment on, the father ceased to play any significant role in the development of the daughter's personality.

Training

Hussie Primary School Olivia graduated from Kent and then moved to the London School of Dramatic Art. Since childhood, she dreamed of an acting career and later admitted that the reason for this was, rather, a pure love for performing, rather than a desire for recognition and approval. During her studies, the girl managed to star in a couple of TV shows and films such as "The Battle of Villa Fiorita" and "Fever Cup".

Romeo and Juliet

By 1966 Hussie Olivia,graceful, short, light-eyed brunette, has already become a theater actress in demand in London. Together with the brilliant Vanessa Redgrave, she played a role in the play "The Prime of Miss Jean Brody." It was then that the Italian master of cinema, director Franco Zeffirelli, who was looking for an actress for the role of gentle Juliet for the film version of William Shakespeare's immortal tragedy, became interested in her direct manner of acting. The film "Romeo and Juliet" (1968) brought the young actress many awards, including the Golden Globe and David Donatello. In the wake of the success of the picture, the amount of speculation and gossip about the leading actors grew like mushrooms after rain. It was said that Olivia and her co-star Leonard Whiting (Romeo) could hardly bear each other's company. Olivia Hussey denied this fact, although she admitted that at times both actors acted like children on set while filming Romeo and Juliet in 1968.

Among the many film versions of the tragedy, Franco Zeffirelli's version (1968) is considered the most successful, effective and historically convincing. The audience sympathized with the heroes all over the world, and the picture overnight became a classic of cinema. The director chose not the most experienced, but captivatingly young actors for the roles of famous lovers, and he did not lose. Seventeen-year-old Leonard Whiting and Olivia Hussey played so touchingly and artlessly that critics even forgave them some modern behavior, not very appropriate in a historical film, as well as a frank (at that time) scene. Both simple and sophisticated spectators agreed,that the picture is simply grandiose. The catchy score for the film was composed by composer Nino Roth. Filming took place throughout Italy, but not in the most famous cities, but in those that still retained the medieval spirit necessary to create the atmosphere of Verona during the war of families (by the way, Olivia visited Verona itself only in transit). In 1969, the picture was awarded two Oscars: for cinematography and costume design, and Olivia Hussey also did not go unnoticed by the public. The filmography of the actress, it is worth noting, includes more than a dozen films.

He alth problems

The shooting continued for several years, the schedule was tight, and after the release of the picture, it had to be presented, and all these loads could not have a positive effect on the he alth of the actress. The enormous popularity of the historical film drama led to the fact that Olivia felt exhausted and devastated, both physically and mentally. After all, now both the public and the film bohemia perceived her exclusively as Juliet Montague! This left an imprint on her future film career. The role in Sam Peckinpah's "Straw Dogs" could, according to Hussey herself, correct the situation, but the actress never got it. Hussie Olivia retired to her mother's house and rested from fame and increased attention to her person for a year. She felt overwhelmed, vulnerable, and needed constant sedation.

It cost her a lot of work to overcome herself and return to an active life. Swami became the girl's mentor that year. Muktanand, who accompanied Hussey in spiritual cultivation for a long time and assumed the role of Olivia's father.

Not all the tapes in which the young actress starred during that period aroused the sympathy of the public and became hits at the box office. But the film "Summer is the time of murders" can be called quite successful, as well as the film "Lost Horizon".

Private life

In the early seventies, Olivia married an American, Dean P. Martin, and in 1973 they had a child who later became an actor. A few years later, a divorce followed, but good relations between the former spouses remained until Martin's death.

Black Christmas

In 1974, the audience saw Olivia in the horror movie "Black Christmas", in which she played the heroine Jessica Bradford. The plot of the film did not differ in originality: the inhabitants of the women's hostel were completing preparations for the bright holiday, but then a mysterious call rang out, and in the morning one of the girls was missing, and this was only the beginning…

Jesus of Nazareth

Three years later, Franco Zeffirelli released his new film, in which he once again involved the actress beloved by millions of viewers. Olivia Hussey played nothing less than the Virgin Mary. The film was called "Jesus of Nazareth". It was not of a religious nature and was dedicated to the person of Jesus Christ as a mortal man. The picture traced the entire history of the life of the Son of God among people - from a miraculous birth to a painful death. Thisthe film master Zeffirelli and his actors gained even greater fame. However, it was not without fierce criticism, as is always the case with biblical-themed tapes.

The next picture in which Hussie Olivia showed herself was a detective from a series about the adventures of detective Poirot. Here she successfully fit into the brilliant cast, headed by Peter Ustinov. Somewhat later, Hussie starred in The Cat and the Canary and The Pirate.

In 1980, the actress marries again, this time to Japanese singer Akira Fuse. They have a son, but even this does not save the spouses from divorce nine years after the wedding. Due to this, many fans are becoming more and more interested in Olivia Hussey, whose biography is full of surprises.

Turkey Hunt

In 1981, Olivia had a chance to star in the failed film "Escape 2000", which the actress later preferred not to remember, but the following year brought her the lead role in the science fiction film Trenchard-Smith "Turkey Hunt". Its plot unfolds in a fictional dysfunctional country, where a military dictatorship reigns, and all the dissatisfied are sent for re-education to special camps, after which even the most proud become slaves. From time to time, important government officials come to the camps, and for them the administration organizes a brutal “turkey hunt”, in which prisoners play the role of defenseless “turkeys”. The fun continues until there are no potential victims

prisoners Chris W alter (Olivia Hussey) and Paul Anders (Steve Railsback),inconsistent with the fate prepared for them. Of course, they make the "hunters" regret their appearance in the camp.

And in the same year, a brilliant film adaptation of the classic chivalric novel "Ivanhoe" about the return of a noble lord from a crusade and the adventures that fall to his lot is released. In it, Olivia Hussey also played the role of Rebecca, which was remembered by the audience.

After that, the actress for a long time got episodic and not the most outstanding roles (for example, in the serial film “Murder, She Wrote” or “The Corsican Brothers”), but in 1989 she was offered the main role in the film “Jewellery shop based on the play by Karol Wojtyla (at that time already John Paul II).

Famous movies with Olivia

Now Hussie played a lot, willingly and diligently, almost without giving up roles. Her track record is very diverse in terms of style. In the early 90s, she starred in the horror films Psycho 4: The Beginning and It, and in 1995, in the comedy horror movie The Ice Cream Man. In Psycho, actress Olivia Hussey played Norma Bates, the mother of Norman Bates, who is driven insane by her obsession. Norman kills his mother, but her presence next to him continues to disturb him for many years and leads to new bouts of insanity. "It" is a film adaptation of the cult novel by Stephen King, dedicated to a demonic creature that appeared to children in the guise of a creepy clown to devour them. Here Olivia Hussey brilliantly coped with the role of Audra. In addition to the above-mentioned paintings, among the worksActresses of this period can be noted films "The guy knows the world", "Save! Please!", "Vow of the Delta Knights", and "Undeclared War".

In 1996, Olivia Hussey got, if not the main, but a bright role in the fantasy story "Lord Protector" with magic, costumed extras, and sword fights. In the late 90s, the list of her film works was replenished with the tapes "Forgotten Memories" and "Silent Scream".

Work at the turn of the century

The period of the 2000s in the work of Hussey opened with one of the significant roles in the film "Victim of the Island", the plot of which was based on the idea that any minor mistake made by a person can completely change his future life.

And then in 2003, Olivia Hussey's career took on her third famous role - an iconic figure of the 20th century, the nun Mother Teresa, who devoted herself to missionary work and helping the poor. The director of the two-part biopic "Mother Teresa of Calcutta" was Italian Fabrizio Costa.

I must say that Olivia Hussey, whose photo can be seen in this article, was confidently approaching this role almost from the very beginning of her career. The personality of Mother Teresa attracted and delighted the actress, and she threw herself into creating a convincing, believable image. The efforts were appreciated at the highest level: her work was approved by the niece of Mother Teresa, and blessed by the then pontiff John Paul II. Olivia's filming partners were S. Somma (played by Teresa's spiritual mentor) and M. Mendl. The film turned out outstanding and won the CAMIE Award.

Shooting in thrillers

In 2005, Olivia again starred in the thriller, which was called "The Secret of the Mind", in 2007 - in "Heavenly Tortilla". Her appearance on the screen has never gone unnoticed. She starred in a huge number of films of varying quality and varying degrees of success. Olivia Hussey knew what she wanted, and considered personal growth to be the most important thing in her stellar career, and not the box office from the films in which she happened to star. But, as the actress noted more than once in an interview, she would like the faithful admirers of her talent to remember, first of all, the most successful images created by her: the gentle and passionate Olivia Hussey (“Romeo and Juliet”) as Juliet Montecchi, the sad Virgin Mary and compassionate Mother Teresa.

Olivia Hussey today

Now the actress is happily married to former rock singer David Glen Eisley; The year 1993 in Olivia's life was marked by the birth of her daughter, India Joy (after Olivia's mother) Eisley. The family lives in Malibu, in a picturesque villa on a hill. Olivia is not against new filming, but is grateful to fate and for the roles that were in her life. It should be noted that Hussey's rich creative biography is not limited to acting. The characters of several animated films speak in her voice: "Superman", "Batman of the Future" and "Pinky and the Brain".