The Girl on the Balcony

By: Olivia Hussey, Alexander Martin, Franco Zeffirelli - foreword

Narrated by: Carol Monda

Length: 9 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

In 1968, Olivia Hussey became one of the most famous faces in the world, immortalized as the definitive Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's Romeo & Juliet. Now the iconic girl on the balcony shares the ups and downs of her truly remarkable life and career....

At only 16 years old, she was an internationally celebrated overnight discovery. The part was an opportunity of a lifetime for a simple girl from Buenos Aires, Argentina. But for Olivia, admired for her beauty and innocence and praised as a fresh and burgeoning young talent, the role of movie star was hard to play and, harder still, to live up to.

In this candid memoir, Olivia Hussey tells her story - from being an "It Girl" in swinging '60s London and her enduring friendship with Romeo & Juliet costar Leonard Whiting, through three tumultuous marriages - including one with Dean Martin's son, Dino - 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.

She brings listeners intimately close to 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 finally reveals for the first time, the identity of the actor - a fellow young newcomer - who raped her, but who would not break her.

Featuring a foreword by her star-making director Franco Zeffirelli, Olivia Hussey's memoir shines with her luminous spirit and perseverance as she reflects on her unique life and experiences - inspiring, surprising, and fascinating to hear.

©2018 Olivia Hussey and Alexander Martin (P)2018 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

This book is a work of art. My heartstrings were touched. I was moved by the straightforward candor of Olivia Hussey.

This book is a work of art. My heartstrings were touched. I was moved by the straightforward candor of Olivia Hussey. Sometimes I smiled broadly, and sometimes tears fell. What an incredible, brave and brilliant person. I saw the movie at age 18, the play itself at various ages, and I just happened to be in Verona at the age of 23. So yes, the heartstrings. This is a well written, revealing book. Enjoyable, meaningful, and sublime. Olivia Hussey is, for me, the only girl on the balcony.

The Juliet I Grew Up With

This is the third time I have read this book. I was introduced to Shakespeare via Olivia Hussey as Juliet. I loved watching her in "Ivanhoe" and an episode of "Murder, She Wrote" and always wondered what happened to her when she was not on camera. This book answers that question. Her resilience is awe inspiring. Olivia Hussey is a marvel and Carol Monda does her perfect justice!

Candid and entertaining...light fare

In this biography Olivia is candid, realistic and entertaining at the same time. She knows she became famous because she was at the right place at the right time and had the age and face Zafirelli was looking for to play his Juliet (his is my favorite version of Romeo and Juliet in film...the movie is visually stunning). Ms. Hussey managed her own career and seems to have had little or no supervision from the age of 15 on, so it is amazing that she survived the age of sex, drugs and rock & roll so well. She knows that she could have done much better in the movies if she had put more energy into developing her career but her priorities were elsewhere. Her “gossip” is mostly about herself. She is very restrained and tasteful when talking about others.
The narration was very good...the narrator has OlIvias’s slightly raspy voice so it is almost as though she was narrating. Interesting note: She is still friendly with the then gorgeous young man who played Romeo.
I recommend this book for those such as me...who loved the movie when it came out. Ms. Hussey is as likable in print as she was earnest as young Juliet.

fascinating!

I was a kid when I accompanied my parents to see the film Romeo & Juliet. My mother covered my eyes during the love scene. I've always wondered what became of Olivia Hussey. She has lived an extraordinary life.

The girl on the balcony

How beautiful. I listened to it twice. The movie is still my favorite of all time. Thank you Olivia for sharing your life’s journey with us. You will always be the girl on the balcony just one with more experience now😀

Thank you Ms Hussey!

What an amazing woman and career. I appreciate and admire your strength and honesty. May you have much happiness.

courage and faith.

I believe she showed a courage and a deep faith to keep moving forward in life even through all the road blocks that fell before her. She proved that it does not matter who you are ,every day life gets in the way. It is how you reply to those road blocks, she did it with class even more so having to do it for the world to see. Thank you for your honesty...

great listen

really liked this book, easy to follow and was interesting. loved the readers voice as well.

Bravo

I so enjoyed hearing her story I feel it good be
made into a movie!! She’s a romantic and did it her way!! Very interesting life!!!

Enjoyable content but disliked narrator

The content was wonderful...I enjoyed her story immensely. I just wish the narrators voice didn’t sound like someone with a two pack a day smoking habit. It made it difficult to listen to, especially when she was narrating the earlier teen years. There was too much of a disconnect.