Olivia Hussey in Japan

In 1968, the adorable English-Argentinian born actress Olivia Hussey was chosen from among 500 actresses to play Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo and Juliet after Zeffirelli had spotted her in a theater production of "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" two years earlier. This role launched her into instant international stardom but, unfortunately, it also triggered a bad case of agoraphobia which took her several years to recover from. 

Instead of taking medication for this condition, she treated herself with meditation. What not too many people know is that Hussey always had an appreciation for the Orient; their way of life, their music, and especially their practice of meditation. 

In 1978, Olivia Hussey traveled to Japan for a promotional tour/pleasure trip. Hussey was quite a sensation in the land of the midnight sun, and in many ways, her delicate facial features resembled those of one born Eurasian. While she was there she filmed a promotional spot for a cosmetics commercial. Hussey speaks a few words in Japanese and then addresses the audience in a slow and respectable tone of English. 

Shortly after this trip, Olivia Hussey married one of Japan's most famous singing stars, Akira Fuse ( her first husband was Dean Paul Martin ). Fuse traveled quite a bit doing concerts and, while they never performed together, Hussey did make a tea commercial with him in the mid-1980s. 

Hussey and Fuse bore a son, Maximilian, and then divorced in 1989. Whether she resided in Japan while they were married is uncertain, but judging from the commercial she seemed to be right at home there. 

This entry is a part of our latest series entitled "Did You Know?".....sometimes we just feel like sharing interesting fragments of television and movie history and now we have a place to do just that. If you have a hot tip that you would like us to share on Silver Scenes, drop us a line!