The Girl on the Balcony: Olivia Hussey Finds Life after Romeo and Juliet
About this ebook
In 1968, sixteen-year-old Olivia Hussey became one of the most famous faces in the world, immortalized as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's classic film Romeo & Juliet. For a simple girl from Buenos Aires, Argentina, the role was an opportunity of a lifetime. But for Olivia, the role of movie star wasn't so easy to play.
In this candid memoir, Hussey tells her story from her time as an “It Girl” in swinging 60s London through her three tumultuous marriages—including one with Dean Martin's son, Dino. Over the years, she experienced motherhood, stage-four breast cancer, debilitating agoraphobia, bankruptcy, and ultimately, a journey of self-discovery in India that led her on a path to fulfillment.
Hussey shares intimate memories of the legendary performers she knew, loved, worked with, and battled, including The Beatles, Vanessa Redgrave, Bette Davis, Elizabeth Taylor, Frank Sinatra, Liza Minnelli, Anthony Perkins, Christopher Reeve, Lawrence Olivier, Ingrid Bergman, and more. Olivia also opens up for the first time about the trauma of being raped by her boyfriend just a year after Romeo & Juliet came out.
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About the author
In a career spanning more than fifty years, OLIVIA HUSSEY has portrayed leading roles in films (Romeo and Juliet, Black Christmas, Death on the Nile, Mother Teresa of Calcutta) and celebrated television miniseries (Jesus of Nazareth, The Bastard, Ivanhoe, The Last Days of Pompeii, Lonesome Dove). She also has appeared in Murder, She Wrote and Boy Meets World and done voice work for Superman: The Animated Series, Batman Beyond, and the Star Wars video game franchise. For her performance in Romeo & Juliet, she won the Golden Globe for Most Promising Female Newcomer and the David di Donatello Award (the Italian Academy Award) for Best Actress. Born of Argentinean and English ancestry, she lives in Los Angeles. ALEXANDER MARTIN moved to London after high school and attended the Central School of Speech and Drama with intention of taking up the family business. He appeared in the films Can’t Hardly Wait, 21, and Josie and the Pussycats. A little over a year ago while he was beginning work on his first book, his mother called and asked if he would help with her memoir; it was an opportunity he couldn’t pass up.
