Olivia Hussey, a seasoned veteran of the London stage and renowned actress, debuted at the tender age of 15 as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet (1968). Her captivating performance earned her the Golden Globe and two successive Best Actor Donatello Awards, a remarkable achievement for an actress in only her third film.
Born to an Argentinian father, Argentinian opera and tango singer Andreas Osuna, aka Isvaldo Ribo, and an English and Scottish mother, Olivia spent her early youth in Buenos Aires. Her mother, an Englishwoman, encouraged her early inclinations for the performing arts. At the age of seven, she moved with her mother and younger brother to England, where she attended drama school for the next five years.
It was during her time in England that she landed the role of "Jenny" in "Jean Brodie", a theater production where Zeffirelli spotted her. After auditioning over 500 young actresses for Juliet, he awarded the part to Olivia, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Olivia then moved to Los Angeles, where she met and married Dean Paul Martin, son of the late and great entertainer Dean Martin. They had a son, Alexander Martin, who is also an actor. She and Martin eventually divorced, and Olivia later married Akira Fuse, one of Japan's premier singers. That marriage produced a second son, Max.
Throughout her illustrious career, Olivia has appeared in over two dozen films, including Death on the Nile (1978) with Bette Davis and Peter Ustinov, Jesus of Nazareth (1977) with Franco Zeffirelli, Last Days of Pompeii (1975) opposite Sir Laurence Olivier, Lost Horizon (1973),The Bastard (1978),Hallmark's Hall of Fame Ivanhoe (1982) with James Mason, Showtime's Psycho IV: The Beginning (1990) and It (1990). She has also guest-starred in numerous television series.
After taking some time off to raise her young daughter, India Joy, Olivia returned to work, starring in two back-to-back features, El grito (2000) and Tortilla Heaven (2007). She has also portrayed Mother Teresa of Calcutta in a movie shot entirely on location in Sri Lanka and Italy, a role that was well-received by the Sisters of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity.
Olivia currently resides outside of Los Angeles with her family and a menagerie of animals.
