Actress Olivia Hussey who played Mary in “Jesus of Nazareth” has died

In 1977, the broadcast of four episodes devoted to Jesus of Nazareth had left its mark. The director, Franco Zeffirelli, responded to a request from Pope Paul VI to produce a sensitive portrait of the Nazarene. In the skin of Jesus, Robert Powell, long and emaciated face, piercing blue eyes, has long constituted a modern icon of Christ in contemporary catechisms. Another icon of this series was the one who played his mother. This Marie was Olivia Hussey, whose real name was Olivia Osuna, who played the role. The British actress, born in Buenos Aires (Argentina) to a British mother and an Argentine tango singer, died on December 27, following a long illness, at the age of 73.

The young woman began her acting career at the age of 13, in the theater, where Franco Zeffirelli spotted her and chose her for his adaptation of Romeo and Julietproduced in 1968 and which will enjoy great international success. Ten years later, she reunited with the director for this evangelical role, where her large, radiant eyes work wonders. A tailor-made role, undoubtedly, for this young actress who grew up in a practicing Catholic family. The actress then pursued a successful career, notably playing in Death on the Nileby Peter Ustinov. In 2003, she played the leading role in the biopic Mother Teresa. A keen devotee to the pooresta project that she had been carrying out for a long time. At the end of her career, she was also a voice for video games, in a completely different universe, that of the series Star Wars (Star Wars).

But the life of an actress is also marked by trials. The success of Romeo and Juliet triggered an agoraphobia in her that was difficult to bear. Her emotional life was also painful: victim of rape by one of her companions, she underwent an abortion. Subsequently, she sought to find peace through three successive marriages which gave her three children. Leonard Whiting, the one who played Romeo alongside him in their youth, remained an old friend throughout his life. It is he who pays her this posthumous tribute: “Be at peace now, Juliette. No injustice can touch you anymore. And the world will remember your inner and outer beauty forever.”