104
Age
80
Movies
41
TV Shows
7.5
Rating
Marsha Hunt (born Marcia Virginia Hunt; October 17, 1917 – September 7, 2022) was an American actress, model and activist, with a career spanning nearly 80 years. She was blacklisted by Hollywood film studio executives in the 1950s during McCarthyism.
104
Died at
80
Movies
41
TV Shows
7.5
Avg Rating
Marsha Hunt (born Marcia Virginia Hunt; October 17, 1917 – September 7, 2022) was an American actress, model and activist, with a career spanning nearly 80 years. She was blacklisted by Hollywood film studio executives in the 1950s during McCarthyism.
The Twilight Zone
1959
Marsha Hunt (born Marcia Virginia Hunt; October 17, 1917 – September 7, 2022) was an American actress, model and activist, with a career spanning nearly 80 years. She was blacklisted by Hollywood film studio executives in the 1950s during McCarthyism.
Although initially reluctant to pursue a film career, in June 1935, at age 17, Hunt signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures. Paramount discovered her when she was visiting her uncle in Los Angeles and the comedian Zeppo Marx saw a picture of her in the newspaper. She was then offered a screen test for The Virginia Judge. At Paramount, Hunt mainly played ingenue parts. Between 1935 and 1938, she made 12 pictures at Paramount, including a starring roles in Easy to Take, Gentle Julia, The Accusing Finger, Murder Goes to College, and two on "loan-out" to RKO and 20th Century Fox. In 1937, she starred opposite John Wayne, a couple of years prior to his breakthrough in Hollywood, in the Western film Born to the West.
The studio terminated Hunt's contract in 1938, and she spent a few years starring in B-films produced by poverty row studios such as Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures. She also headed to New York City for work in summer stock theatre shortly before winning a supporting role in MGM's These Glamour Girls opposite Lana Turner and Lew Ayres. The role of Betty was said to have been written specially with Hunt in mind. Other roles in major studio productions soon followed, including supporting roles as Mary Bennet in MGM's version of Pride and Prejudice with Laurence Olivier and as Martha Scott's surrogate child Hope Thompson in Cheers for Miss Bishop.
In 1941, Hunt signed a contract with MGM, where she remained for the next six years. While filming Blossoms in the Dust, film director Mervyn LeRoy lauded Hunt for her heartfelt and genuine acting ability. In 1944, she polled seventh in a list by exhibitors of "Stars of Tomorrow". She also appeared in None Shall Escape, a film that is now regarded as the first about the Holocaust. She played Marja Pacierkowski, the Polish fiancé of a German Nazi officer named Wilhelm Grimm.
Gender
Female
Birthday
October 17, 1917
Died
September 7, 2022
Birthplace
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Also Known As
Star Reporter
1939
Annapolis Salute
1937
The Human Comedy
1943
Thunder Trail
1937
Pride and Prejudice
1940
Panama Hattie
1942
None Shall Escape
1944
Jigsaw
1972
Easy to Take
1936
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988
Irene
1940
Cry 'Havoc'
1943
I'll Wait for You
1941
Thousands Cheer
1943
Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
1996
Take One False Step
1949
Seven Sweethearts
1942
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
Blossoms in the Dust
1941
The Valley of Decision
1945
+ 60 more movies
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987
Murder, She Wrote
1984
The Twilight Zone
1959
Ironside
1967
Ironside
1967
Climax!
1954
Climax!
1954
Matlock
1986
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
Studio One
1948
Studio One
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
Ben Casey
1961
My Three Sons
1960
The Name of the Game
1968
Marcus Welby, M.D.
1969
+ 21 more TV shows