English actress Olivia Hussey was the darling of late 1960s/early 1970s frock flicks. After her star-making turn in Romeo and Juliet, the dark-haired, Madonna-faced actress went on to key roles in Death on the Nile and the TV miniseries The Last Days of Pompeii … and then things sort of flickered out. According to a 2018 interview in Variety, it seems to have been just dumb luck. But she has kept working (her last production was in 2015), and she’s very active on social media.
So, let’s appreciate this frock flick as an ingenue and a mature actress!
Romeo and Juliet (1968)
Still a classic, and for a good reason! 15/16-year-old Hussey plays a beautiful, age-appropriate Juliet in the adaptation that actually did historical accuracy (and great filmmaking) right.
Jesus of Nazareth (1977)
A TV miniseries — directed by Franco Zeffirelli, director of Romeo and Juliet — about the birth/life/death/afterlife of Jesus. Hussey plays Mary, Jesus’s mother.
Death on the Nile (1978)
This big-budget Agatha Christie adaptation (of a Hercule Poirot mystery) includes Hussey as Rosalie, protective daughter of a dramatic romance novelist.
The Bastard (The Kent Family Chronicles, 1978)
Is this where things went awry? In the 18th century, a literal bastard (i.e., illegitimate son) goes from France to England to America in search of his fortune. Hussey plays Alicia, one of the love interests.
The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther (1979)
Hussey plays the title character in this TV adaptation of the Biblical story of Esther, the Jewish wife of a Persian king.
Edited to add:
Ivanhoe (1982)
I CAN’T BELIEVE I FORGOT THIS!!!!
The Last Days of Pompeii (1984)
A major TV miniseries about, you guessed it, Pompeii before the eruption. Hussey plays Ione, “a soon-to-be priestess of Isis; sister of Antonius, and love interest to Glaucus.” We’ve gotta review this sometime, just for the laughs!
The Corsican Brothers (1985)
A TV adaptation of the Alexandre Dumas novel, which is about twin brothers from Corsica (shocking, I know) who follow different paths. Both are in love with the same woman, played by Hussey. You know I’m tempted to track this one down for Snark Week!
The Jeweller’s Shop (1988)
A jeweler sells rings to two different couples, and various truths about love and marriage are revealed. I THINK this is period? mid-20th century? But I’m not positive. Hussey plays “Thérèse.”
Quest of the Delta Knights (1993)
I have heard Sarah mention this film so many times as what I think may be the ultimate cheese, but I admit, I don’t really know anything about it! But when I saw it on Hussey’s filmography, I knew I had to include it. Ah, I just saw it was featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, which tells us something. Oh! And it was filmed at our renaissance faire (Black Point), in northern California, which sadly no longer exists but was The Best! Ok, now I gotta watch this.
Per Wikipedia, “The plot revolves around a young boy named Travis who learns from his master that he is the key to saving the world from an evil plot. He joins the secret organization of the Delta Knights and embarks on a quest to attempt to recover the lost treasures inside the fabled Lost Storehouse of Archimedes.” Hussey plays “The Mannerjay.”
Lonesome Dove: The Series (1994)
A TV series continuation of the ultra-popular 1980s Western miniseries. Hussey is in three episodes as “Olivia Jessup,” and I’m guessing she’s some kind of saloon girl/gambler?
Mother Teresa (2003)
As, you guessed it, Mother Teresa in what was originally an Italian TV miniseries that was then released as a feature film.
Chinaman’s Chance: America’s Other Slaves (2008)
What I think must be a low-budget film set in the 1870s, about discrimination against Chinese Americans. Hussey plays “Mrs. Duncan.”
What’s your favorite Olivia Hussey frock flick role?
I love Romeo and Juliet. My mom saw it in theaters and I watched it on repeat growing up. She’s wonderful in it.
Olivia aged well didn’t she? Still lovely.
Death on the Nile is a lot of fun
Reminds me a bit of Amy Irving (although I think Irving the better actress). Speaking of whom, has A.I. done any frock flicks?
Yentl, The Far Pavilions
Yentl!
OMG, of course “Yentl”! I really liked it, apart from the songs; I wanted a more traditional musical-comedy style (and Mandy P. singing, since he’s rather good at doing that), but Streisand failed to consult me.
Black Christmas!
What? No Ivanhoe? As a Swede I’m offended ;)
I came here to say this! She and Sam Neill are terrific in this version.
Yep, she was Rebecca in the ’82 Ivanhoe.
DAMMIT
Editing the post!
Re the Egyptian headdress: that’s actually a very big and clunky version of the headdress of the goddess Isis/Hathor: cow horns enclosing a sun disc.
https://www.lot-art.com/auction-lots/Ancient-Egyptian-Bronze-Big-solid-Sculpture-Goddess-Isis-with-the-Horus-Child-with-a-Vulture-Head-192-cm-H/43570353-ancient_egyptian-03.1.21-catawiki
I don’t know if any priestesses of Isis ever wore the goddess’s headdress as in that statue: there are several extant Roman statues of such priestesses (the cult of Isis was BIG in imperial Rome), and all the ones I’ve seen have a veil or part of their robe covering their heads and a quite small image of the horns-&-sun-disc above the brow, as here:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a6/Life-size_marble_statue_of_a_priestess_of_Isis%2C_2nd_century_AD%2C_found_in_the_monumental_nymphaeum_at_Laodicea_on_the_Lycus%2C_Hierapolis_Archaeology_Museum%2C_Turkey_%2831753700700%29.jpg
So the headdress is a daft over-enlargement. But they clearly did do some research, because the knotting of the corners of the robe together over the diaphragm is something that crops up in a lot of the Roman representations of Isis’ priestesses.
My goodness that crown is clunky. And as you say inappropriate. She’s a priestess not the goddess! That leopard skin looks pretty ratty too.
Re: Jeweler’s Shop, yup, it’s Poland, 1930s/1940s. I’ve read the play but I’ve never seen the movie.
I just read on Wikipedia that the play was written by Pope John Paul II when he was still Karol Józef Wojtyła.
Yup! He studied theater in college!
Was written I believe by Saint John Paul II as Caril Wotyla. And my favourite Olivia Hussey is Romeo and Juliet. None of the later versions comes close.
She has such an expressive face! When she is still she looks serene and Madonna like, but frown and it’s all going on! I love R&J, and J of N, probably because I saw it at an impressionable age, and seeing that story with dark haired people was a revelation. They may have not used actual Middle Eastern actors in 1977, but they weren’t blue eyed blondes either, so progress!
Well, Robert Powell had blue eyes (which bummed me out as a brown-eyed teenager, since apparently the film considered blue eyes more…”spiritual”? “Godly?”)…
Letter perfect casting of everyone in Romeo and Juliet (1968). To me, she is Juliet. Love her.
I guess I’ll stick with Romeo and Juliet, since I haven’t seen most of the others.
Understandable why you completely ignored Lost Horizon (1973). It had so many other big names in it too.
Ah yes, the Romeo and Juliet we all watched at school back in the day! I know Hussey chiefly from that and loved her as Juliet. Honestly didn’t know about the rest of them, but she was Audra Denbrough in the 1990 “It” and played comatose well.
R&J unbeatable for adapting that play (even though I prefer others of Shakespeare’s works). I read something from Zefferelli that actually he had another actress in mind who he’d seen previously, with beautiful long blonde hair and what he considered a classic English beauty I think, but when she came for an audition it was shorter and he couldn’t see her as Juliet anymore and Hussey got the role. I know the black clothes were unlikely but her portrayal of grief after the crucifixion is one of the most affecting in film that I’ve seen. I want to see her Death on the Nile now–she looks great. Also today I learned there was a significant cult of Isis in Pompeii! Jeweler’s Shop was pre-WWII and I think post also; I have the play (by Pope JPII when he was still a priest) but haven’t read it. Would love to see Olivia Hussey in more things.
Of course, my fave is Romeo and Juliet. But I also loved as the Virgin Mary. Whenever I see her I think, “Jesus’s mom!” She really is heartachingly beautiful. Now I want to seek out some of her other Frock Flicks. Great choice!
You know India Eisley from The Secret Life of the American Teenager
and Eve in Underworld: Awakening is her daughter, right? My kids told me that.