'Romeo and Juliet' star Olivia Hussey Eisley dies at 73

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KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Olivia Hussey Eisley, star of "Romeo and Juliet," died at 73.
• She gained fame with a Golden Globe-winning role in the 1968 film.
• Hussey Eisley and her co-star's lawsuit against Paramount was dismissed in 2023.

LOS ANGELES — Olivia Hussey Eisley, star of the 1968 film "Romeo and Juliet" and the slasher classic "Black Christmas," has died, according to a post on her Instagram page. She was 73.

"It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of Olivia Hussey Eisley, who went peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones on December 27th," the statement posted on her Instagram reads. "Olivia was a remarkable person whose warmth, wisdom, and pure kindness touched the lives of all who knew her."

"Romeo and Juliet" was the British-Argentine actress's big break, winning her a Golden Globe for her performance as Juliet.

Franco Zeffirelli's adaptation of Shakespeare's classic love story was not without its controversies. In late 2022, Hussey Eisley and co-star Leonard Whiting filed a lawsuit against Paramount Studios, which produced the film, for allowing the movie to be released with scenes showing them nude when they were minors. According to the complaint, Zeffirelli told Hussey Eisley and Whiting – who were 15 and 16 at the time, respectively – that "they must act in the nude or the picture would fail." The suit was dismissed in May 2023.

Hussey Eisley later starred in the 1974 horror film "Black Christmas" and appeared in the 1978 Agatha Christie adaptation "Death on the Nile." She also worked with Zeffirelli again in 1977, playing Mary in the TV mini series "Jesus of Nazareth."

In the '90s, Hussey Eisley starred in several horror flicks including "Psycho IV: The Beginning," and "It," a miniseries adaptation of Stephen King's novel. Later, in the early 2000s, she starred in the biogrophical film "Mother Teresa," thriller "El Grito" and comedy "Tortilla Heaven."

Born in Buenos Aires on April 17, 1951, "Olivia lived a life full of passion, love, and dedication to the arts, spirituality, and kindness toward animals," the statement said.

"Olivia leaves behind a loving family — her children, Alex, Max, and India, her husband of 35 years David Glen Eisley, and grandson, Greyson, and a legacy of love that will forever be cherished in our hearts," the statement read.

"As we grieve this immense loss, we also celebrate Olivia's enduring impact on our lives and the industry. We thank you for your thoughts and prayers during this difficult time and ask for privacy as we mourn the loss of a truly special soul," it said.

The Key Takeaways for this article were generated with the assistance of large language models and reviewed by our editorial team. The article, itself, is solely human-written.

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Dalia Faheid