Early life

Hussey was born Olivia Osuna in Buenos Aires, Argentina. She was brought up as a Roman Catholic, and when she was seven years old, Hussey and her younger brother went with their mother to live in London, where she attended the Italia Conti Academy drama school for five years.

Career

Assuming her mother's maiden name as her stage name, Hussey appeared on the London stage as Jenny in The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, opposite Vanessa Redgrave. It was during the run of this play that Italian film director Franco Zeffirelli first spotted her because of her beauty and theatrical skill. Chosen out of 500 actresses, she appeared in her first starring role, as Juliet in Zeffirelli's 1968 film version of Romeo and Juliet, opposite Leonard Whiting's Romeo. In 1969 she won a special David di Donatello Award and the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year - Actress.

Hussey has appeared in more than forty films and has performed in a wide variety of roles. She played the leading role of Jessica Bradford in the Canadian horror film, Black Christmas (1974), which became influential as a forerunner of the slasher film genre of horror films. She played Mary, the mother of Jesus, in the 1977 television production of Jesus of Nazareth (her second work for director Zeffirelli). In 1978 she played Rosalie Otterbourne in Death on the Nile with Peter Ustinov.

She also starred as Marit in the Japanese film Virus, and played Rebecca of York in the 1982 remake of Ivanhoe.

In 1987 Hussey appeared in a clip for the Michael Jackson video Liberian Girl, among others, which also included Steven Spielberg, John Travolta, Olivia Newton-John, Whoopi Goldberg, Lou Ferrigno, and Billy Dee Williams.

In 1990 Hussey played Norma Bates, the mother of Norman Bates, in Psycho IV: The Beginning, a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho (1960). In 2003 she played the lead in a film adaptation of the life of Mother Teresa, for which she was presented with a Character & Morality in Entertainment Award on May 12, 2007 in Hollywood. She stated in an interview that it had been her dream and wish to portray the role of Mother Teresa of Calcutta since she finished her role as the Virgin Mary in Jesus of Nazareth. In 2015 Hussey and Leonard Whiting reunited as on-screen partners in the film Social Suicide (2015), the only film that they both appeared in since Romeo and Juliet (1968).

Voice work

Hussey was nominated for "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production" at the Annie Awards for her work in Batman Beyond, as Talia. She voiced the character of Kasan Moor in the PC/Nintendo64 game, Star Wars: Rogue Squadron and was also in the massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic as Jedi Master Yuon Par. She also lent her voice to Star Wars: Force Commander in 2000.

Personal life

In 1971 Hussey married actor Dean Paul Martin, son of the singer Dean Martin. They had a son, Alexander Gunther Martin (later an actor), in 1973, before divorcing in 1978. Dean Paul Martin died in 1987 when his National Guard F-4 Phantom jet fighter crashed in California's San Bernardino Mountains during a snowstorm.

In 1980 Hussey married Japanese musician Akira Fuse in two ceremonies, one at home in Los Angeles and a second, an Indian wedding, in Miami. She gave birth to her son Max in 1983. She divorced Fuse in 1989.

In 1991 Hussey married American rock musician David Glen Eisley, a son of the late actor Anthony Eisley. In October 1993 she gave birth to her daughter, India Eisley. India, also an actress, played her first major role in the American teen drama The Secret Life of the American Teenager in 2008.

Hussey is an animal rights activist.

Filmography

Film
Year	Film	Role	Other notes
1965	The Battle of the Villa Fiorita	Donna
	Cup Fever	Jinny- child
1968	Romeo and Juliet	Juliet	Golden Globe Award, David di Donatello, Laurel Award
1971	All the Right Noises	Val
1971	H-Bomb	Erica
1972	The Summertime Killer	Tania Scarlotti
1973	Lost Horizon	Maria
1974	Black Christmas	Jessica Bradford
1978	Death on the Nile	Rosalie Otterbourne
1979	The Cat and the Canary	Cicily Young
1980	Virus	Marit
	The Man with Bogart's Face	Elsa
1982	Turkey Shoot	Chris Walters
1987	Distortions	Amy Marks
1989	The Jeweller's Shop	Thérèse
1990	Undeclared War	Rebecca Eche
1990	It	Audra Phillips Denbrough
1993	Quest of the Delta Knights	The Mannerjay
1994	Save Me	Gail
1995	Ice Cream Man	Nurse Wharton
	Bad English I: Tales of a Son of a Brit
1996	The Dark Mist	Voice of the Ancients	Voice Role
1998	The Gardener	Mrs. Carter
	Shame, Shame, Shame	Therapist
2000	Bloody Proof	Laura
2001	Island Prey	Catherine Gaits
2005	Headspace	Dr. Karen Murphy
2006	Seven Days of Grace	Jewel
2007	Tortilla Heaven	Petra
2008	Three Priests	Rachel
	I Am Somebody: No Chance in Hell	Mrs. Duncan
2015	Social Suicide	Julia's Mother
	1066	Countess Gytha	(release date 14 October 2015 (UK))
Television
Year	Title	Role	Notes
1964	Drama 60-67	Mrs. Ken's daughter	Episode: "Studio '64 - The Crunch"
1977	Jesus of Nazareth	Mary, the mother of Jesus	NBC Miniseries
1978	The Bastard	Alicia	NBC Television film
	The Pirate	Leila	CBS Television film
1979	The Thirteenth Day: The Story of Esther	Esther	ABC Television film
1982	Ivanhoe	Rebecca	CBS Television film
1984	The Last Days of Pompeii	Ione	ABC Miniseries
1985	The Corsican Brothers	Annamarie de Guidice	CBS Television film
	Murder, She Wrote	Kitty Trumbull	Episode: Sing a Song of Murder
1990	Psycho IV: The Beginning	Norma Bates	Showtime Television film
	It	Audra Phillips Denbrough	ABC Television film
1994	Lonesome Dove: The Series	Olivia Jessup	Episodes: "Where the Heart Is" "Law and Order" "Firebrand"
1996	Dead Man's Island	Rosie, the housemaid	Television film
1997	Boy Meets World	Aunt Prudence Curtis	Episode:" A Long Walk To Pittsburgh (Part 2)"
1998	Pinky and the Brain	Queen	Voice Role Episode: "The Megalomaniacal Adventures of Brainie the Poo" Episode: "Melancholy Brain"
1999	Superman: The Animated Series	Talia	Voice Role Episode: "The Demon Reborn"
2000	Batman Beyond	Talia	Voice Role Episode: "Out of the Past"
2003	Mother Teresa of Calcutta	Mother Teresa	Television film originally produced as Italian television miniseries

Video games

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Star Wars: Rogue Squadron	Kasan Moor	Voice Role
2000	Star Wars: Force Commander	AT-AA Driver / Abridon Refugee 2	Voice Role
2011	Star Wars: The Old Republic	Jedi Master Yuon Par	Voice Role

Awards and nominations

Annie Awards

• 2001: Nominated, "Outstanding Individual Achievement for Voice Acting by a Female Performer in an Animated Television Production" - Batman Beyond

David di Donatello Awards

• 1969: Won, "Best Actress" - Romeo and Juliet

Golden Globe Awards

• 1969: Won, "Most Promising Female Newcomer" - Romeo and Juliet

Laurel Awards

• 1970: Nominated, "Female New Face" - Romeo and Juliet

[ Source: Wikipedia ]