<P> Another tradition that occurs in Juliet's courtyard is writing your name and that of your loved one on a lock and attaching it to a large ornamental gate in the back left . The gate is overwhelmed with locks that hold hope for lasting love . This tradition is seen throughout Europe on bridges and gates all over cities . </P> <P> Since the 1930s, letters addressed to Juliet keep arriving in Verona . As of 2010, more than 5,000 letters are received annually, three - quarters of which are from women . The largest single group of senders are American teenagers . The letters are read and replied to by local volunteers, organised since the 1980s in the Club di Giulietta (Juliet Club), which is financed by the City of Verona . The club has been the subject of a book by Lise and Ceil Friedman and is the setting for a 2008 book by Suzanne Harper and a 2010 USA movie, Letters to Juliet . </P> <P> A number of famous actresses and some actors have portrayed the role of Juliet: </P> <Ul> <Li> Mary Saunderson was the first woman to play Juliet professionally . Previous actors had all been males . </Li> <Li> Eliza O'Neill won her fame with Juliet at Covent Garden, 1814 . </Li> <Li> Katharine Cornell had a notable Broadway success as Juliet opposite the Romeo of Basil Rathbone in 1934, and revived the production with Maurice Evans as Romeo and Ralph Richardson as Mercutio the following year . </Li> <Li> Peggy Ashcroft was one of the great Juliets in history, most famously in the 1935 London production directed by John Gielgud, in which Gielgud and Laurence Olivier alternated the roles of Romeo and Mercutio . </Li> <Li> Norma Shearer in George Cukor's Romeo and Juliet (1936). Leslie Howard was her Romeo . </Li> <Li> Judi Dench had a great success as Juliet in Franco Zeffirelli's 1960 London production . </Li> <Li> Olivia Hussey portrayed Juliet in Zeffirelli's 1968 film, Romeo and Juliet,; Leonard Whiting was her Romeo . </Li> <Li> Niamh Cusack portrayed Juliet in 1986 with The Royal Shakespeare Company . Sean Bean was her Romeo . </Li> <Li> Claire Danes was Juliet in Baz Luhrmann's modernised 1996 version, Romeo + Juliet, alongside Leonardo DiCaprio as Romeo . </Li> <Li> Gugu Mbatha - Raw portrayed Juliet at the Royal Exchange Theatre's 2005 production . </Li> <Li> James Patrick Davis portrayed Juliet in an all - male 2008 production with Shakespeare Theatre Company, opposite actor Finn Wittrock as Romeo . </Li> <Li> Hailee Steinfeld portrayed Juliet in Carlo Carlei's film adaptation, opposite actor Douglas Booth as Romeo . </Li> <Li> Deepika Padukone portrayed Juliet in Sanjay Leela Bhansali's 2013 Hindi adaptation of Romeo and Juliet, Goliyon Ki Raasleela Ram - Leela (translated as "A Play of Bullets: Ram - Leela"), opposite actor Ranveer Singh . </Li> <Li> Teresa Palmer portrayed Julie Grigio, Juliet's analogue in the 2013 zombie movie adaptation Warm Bodies, opposite Nicholas Hoult as R, the film's zombiefied Romeo analogue </Li> </Ul>

When was juliet born and when did she die