Hussey died Friday, “peacefully at home surrounded by loved ones.” Instagram account said.
Hussey’s friend since 2008, Mark Huestis, told CBS News that the actress had cancer.
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Hussey was 15 when director Franco Zeffirelli cast her after seeing her on stage in the play “The Prime of Miss Jane Brodie,” an adaptation of the William Shakespeare tragedy that also starred Vanessa Redgrave.
“Romeo and Juliet” won two Oscars and Hussey won a Golden Globe for Best New Actress for her portrayal of Juliet opposite British actor Leonard Whiting, who was 16 at the time.
Hussey and Whiting decades later Filed a lawsuit against Paramount Pictures. Alleging sexual exploitation, sexual harassment and fraud over nudity in the film.
They alleged that they were initially told that they would wear flesh-colored underwear in the bedroom scene, but on the day of the shoot, Zeffirelli told the couple that he would only wear body makeup and that the camera would be on him. It will be kept in such a way that this does not happen. Show nudity. They alleged that they were filmed in the nude without their knowledge.
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The case was dismissed in 2023 by a Los Angeles County judge, who found that their depictions could not be considered child pornography and that the couple filed their claim too late.
Hussey was born on 17 April 1951 in Buenos Aires, Argentina and moved to London as a child.
She also starred as Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television series “Jesus of Nazareth” and in the 1978 adaptation of Agatha Christie’s “Death on the Nile.”
She is survived by her husband, David Glenn Eisley, their three children and one grandchild.