Have I ever heard of Olivia Hussey? Aside from the 1960s Romeo and Juliet, no. I do have a weakness for celeb biographies and was excited to be approved for this. It's a fast read, somewhat interesting and well written. She's played many iconic roles and her story is interesting. I enjoyed this.

Really interesting story on her journey. Would highly recommend to fans, and those interested in an interesting life.

Thank you to Net Galley, the author Olivia Hussey and the publishers.

With apologies for the delay, as demand by many authors and publishers to read their books, seem to always fall behind.

An interesting and honest and detailed autobiography. Olivia speaks honestly about her tough life in films but more so in her private life.

Reading this book I learned so much about her life the many film greats she worked with and met, through her early life and marriage to Dino Martin.

I knew till I read this book about her life in L.A, her tough marriages, her fears, her lack of confidence, her all to easy to trust people.

The book starts well for me, I am happy to many autobiographies tell you about their great grandparents, grandparents, parents, and you have read nearly a third of a book and are bored stiff.

Here Olivia stories gains pace quickly, and within in a chapter or two we learn about her film career from such a young age, her stage work.

The massive casting for her role as Juliet, great stories about the greats, her love of the good old British legends like David Niven, Sir Laurence Olivier, Peter Ustinov, the coldness of Bette Davis, and so much more.

This story shows life as a film star is no always as good as you think it is, long days, travelling, leaving children, relationships, Olivia speaks openly about taking film roles for the money.

I am sure this is the same for many working actors, who are not on the millions per film.

Olivia went through many tough relationships, lost friends, lost homes, turned to religion, fought illness, but came out a better person.

An interesting, honest autobiography.

Four stars

One day Olivia Hussey was being fitted for a dress to wear in a ball scene in Romeo and Juliet, when Franco Zeffirelli astonished her by starting to tear it! He had a sudden, volcanic temper which the young teenager would have to live with. Hussey relates this, and many other anecdotes about making her most famous film, the beautiful Romeo and Juliet, the movie which defined her life, taking her from a tough upbringing in London to the joys of Italy and world-wide stardom.

However, this book is not just about Romeo and Juliet. Olivia Hussey takes the reader on her journey through life in this luminous book about her career, including playing Mother Teresa and the Virgin Mary, and her loves, her travels and the importance of her guru, Swami Muktenanda. I especially liked her poignant story of her first love and marriage. Parts of the book are harrowing, because of an abortion and her struggle with breast cancer, but she displayed such resilience that it is also inspiring – something that I certainly didn’t expect!

If you like reading about famous people, there are several in this book! Olivia Hussey met many of the greats, including Laurence Olivier, Vanessa Redgrave and Burt Lancaster. She even met Pope John Paul 11 who asked about her after she acted in a film of one of his plays.

I loved this eBook so much that I will certainly be buying the paperback or hardback. A big regret is that my mother who also adored the stunning movie of Romeo and Juliet is not here to read it.

I received this free eBook from Net Galley in return for an honest review.

Wie Zeffirelli seine Julia fand - schon das Vorwort hat interessante Fakten parat. Und dann geht es erst richtig los - nettes (und weniger nettes) über das Leben rund um Olivia Hussey und die Menschen an ihrer Seite. Offen, ehrlich, entwaffnend.

I have a very clear memory of the first time I saw Olivia Hussey in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet. I was 14 and in Literature class and the moment 'Juliet' is on the screen, I was struck at how beautiful and young she was. Olivia Hussey WAS Juliet. She captured the innocence and youth in the role.

The Girl on the Balcony is Olivia Hussey's story. Her life was so much more than Juliet. Marriages, cancer, motherhood, bankruptcy...it's everything you would never wish on anyone. This is also the story of her self-discovery in India and the path and way to her own fulfillment.

Celebrity books are often in one of two categories - the good, full of scandal and gossip and the bad. This is something else, something special. This is the story of a remarkable woman, who captured so many hearts as Juliet - on that way to find her own peace.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Interesting insight into the time when she played Juliet. An intimate tone to the writing. Will be interesting for anyone who is a fan.

Although I have a penchant for celebrity biographies, I knew nothing about the subject of this one, actress Olivia Hussey. All I knew was that she was famous for playing the iconic lead role in Franco Zeffirelli's "Romeo & Juliet" back in the sixties. I have never even seen the movie! However, after seeing her lovely smiling countenance as Juliet on the book's cover (when she was barely sixteen), I was drawn into wanting to find out more about her life over 50 years later.

This is a very free-flowing and fast read, such is the wonderful writing and interesting content. Ms. Hussey was born in Buenos Aries, Argentina, the product of a British mother and Spanish father...but the marriage didn't last. As a result, Olivia and her younger brother Drew grew up with a single mom who had to work and struggle to keep a roof over their heads. To alleviate burdening family and unable to handle caring for two young children while working, the kids were sent away to boarding school for a few years. Eventually, the family emigrated to London to join other relatives that were living there. Olivia knew she wanted to be an actress since the age of four, so her Mom sent her to a nearby drama school for an interview. A precocious and serious ten-year old Olivia plead her case for admission: "Oh, Miss Conti, we don't have money, but if you just give me a chance I can really act." Within just a few year's time she snagged a role in the theatre production of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" starring Vanessa Redgrave. The show toured throughout England to packed houses, even attended one evening by the Royal Family. Performing as a part of this traveling troupe for two years was the best acting education Olivia could have received.

Playing Shakespeare's Juliet was the defining role of Olivia Hussey's life. Of Romeo & Juliet Producer Franco Zeffirelli Olivia states, "the most talented person I've ever known feels, somehow, too small for him." When someone asked Franco many years later if he had ever loved a woman, he replied, "Yes, once. With Olivia when we worked together during Romeo & Juliet." Olivia cried when she heard that. They had a wonderful understanding with each other like Olivia was Franco's muse.

There is much more to the story of Olivia's life after Romeo & Juliet. She relocated from England to Los Angeles. Incredibly, she lived for four years in the California home where the Sharon Tate murders had occurred only 5 weeks prior to her moving in! Within a short time she married the son of Dean Martin, Dino Martin, and had their son Alex. She married twice more, both to musicians, and had two more children.

Over the years she starred in other iconic roles such as playing Mary in "Jesus of Nazareth" and also Mother Teresa. On a personal note, Olivia also triumphed over the occasional battle with severe agoraphobia.

This was a very honest, interesting and well-written autobiography of British actress Olivia Hussey...highly recommended!

I absolutely loved reading "The Girl on the Balcony"!Although I didn't know any specifics about Hussey's acting career, I found her life story to be fascinating and her recollections were authentic. She has known and loved a lot of very famous people but she never portrayed them in a salacious light like so many other authors do. Anyone who is interested in how to become an actor and who'd like to know the reality of "behind the scenes" action will enjoy Hussey's account. .I don't want to give away spoilers so I'll just say I was deeply moved by the evolution of her spiritual life, Moreover, I was inspired by how she handled her health crisis. This was the kind of memoir that readers love to devour in one sitting--I was certainly one of them. Highly recommended!

***** Five Star Review...Thoroughly enjoyed this book, provided to me by NetGalley. Would Recommend for Biography and AutoBiography Readers!

Thoroughly enjoyable, easy to read autobiography of Olivia Hussey, who starred in Romeo and Juliet in 1968. I remember seeing this in the theater when it came out and falling in love with both Romeo and Juliet- they were they most beautiful actors who could’ve ever played those roles. As soon as I saw that this book was available, I wanted to read it. In this book Olivia tells the story of the rest of her life after R&J. I can’t imagine anyone who hasn’t seen the movie or who doesn’t know who she is being terribly interested in this book, but I devoured it in one long sitting on the beach today and have to say, I enjoyed every minute of it. She had a pretty interesting, if not always happy life. Lots of mentions of some famous people in and out of her life, and she talks quite a bit about Leonard Whiting, her Romeo costar and their relationship and friendship through the years. Three marriages, three children, breast cancer, bankruptcy, an okay career.....but she has survived and seems to have thrived and written this nice book. I would recommend it to anyone who loved the movie and who knows who Olivia Hussey is!
Thanks to Netgalley and Kensington Books for the advanced digital review copy!

Olivia Hussey has led a life that is incredibly different from mine. It’s fascinating to read of the actors she met: Jack Lemmon, Burt Lancaster, David Nivens. It’s amazing to think she earned only $3,000 for playing Juliet.
Born in Argentina, she and her brother were taken at a young age to England by their mother, who had her ex-husband’s permission for a trip that she never intended to return from. In effect, she stole the children from her husband, and turned them against him. Olivia did speak to him on the phone in later years, but it’s unclear if she actually saw him again. That’s sad.
She moved to Los Angeles while still in her teens without clear goals or means of support. She jumped into marriages with Dean Paul Martin and Japanese singer Akira that, not surprisingly, failed. So many of her decisions that seem well thought-out, and she did end up with bad managers, at least twice, who took advantage of her.
While her life is an interesting story, sometimes it’s better not to know so much about celebrities’ feet of clay.

I have vivid memories of watching the beautiful movie, Romeo and Juliet (1968). I remember falling in love with the actors and the beauty of the production by Franco Zeffirelli. Olivia Hussey was the actress playing Juliet and I thought she was the most beautiful woman I had ever seen! This is her story and she explains how she became an international star overnight at the tender age of seventeen. Olivia tells all about her marriages, (one to Dean Martin's son, Dino) her acquaintances, (Liza Minnelli, Elizabeth Taylor, Paul McCartney and many more!!) her guru, her breast cancer and agoraphobia. Interesting book and big-name characters kept me reading long into the night!

The Girl on the Balcony by Olivia Hussey will be available July 31, 2018 from Kensington Books. An egalley of this book was made available by the publisher in exchange for a honest review.

This is the story of Olivia Hussey the young ingenue who at age 16 becomes a overnight celebrity with her role as Juliet in the 1968 movie Romeo and Juliet. I remember seeing the movie in high school and becoming fascinated with her.

She has lived a rough very personal life and that is told in the pages of this book.

She and her younger brother lived at a boarding school form age 3 to age 6 after her parents split up as their mother couldn't care for them financially,

At age 6 she moves to London. She loved going to the movies as a young child and decided she wanted to be an actress at age 4.

At age 10 she starts attending a drams school and gets her first acting job. Her first film is The Battle of the Villa Fiorita.
She is appearing in the stage production of the Prime of Miss Jean Brodie with Vanessa Redgrave when she auditions for the role of Juliet at age 15. Her audition role is that of the balcony scene she also performs the "potion" scene.

She auditions with Leonard Whiting who is cast as Romeo.


Sixty years later she still gets asked if there was an offscreen romance between her and Leonard. the answer is yes and no. They dated for a little while after the movie wrapped but fought constantly. They remain great friends.

She met Dino Martin who became her first husband when he came to London specifically to meet her.

She moves to America and meets many famous actors and actresses. Her marriage produces a son before she and Dino divorce.. She doesn't ask for any settlement or child support from Dino.

She films Lost Horizon while pregnant with her first child and her singing has to be dubbed. The movie is considered one of the 50 worst movies ever made. It is a favorite of mine however.


She suffers from agoraphobia in subsequent years.

She marries a second time to a Japanese singer and this marriage produces another son, However due to the distance/travelling their careers impose on them the marriage ends in divorce.

She meets her 3rd husband at a deli. He is a rock star/singer. which produces a daughter.

She hires a husband a wife business manager team who steal all of her money and forge her name on 3 huge mortgages on her house. This leaves her owing the bank hundreds of thousands of dollars. She is forced to sell her home.

She and her family spend the next several years moving constantly due to their financial constraints.

In 2008after feeling unwell for 5 years she is diagnosed with stage 4 breast cancer. She undergoes a mastectomy and learns the cancer hasn't spread.

She is cancer free and has recently portrayed Mother Theresa.