
Marsha Hunt
Personal Info
Known for
Acting
Gender
Female
Birthday
1917-10-17
Day of Death
2022-09-07 (104 years old)
Place of Birth
Chicago, Illinois, USA
Marsha Hunt
Biography
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.
Known For
Acting
(2021)
(2015)
(2008)
Empire State Building Murders
as Norah Strinberg
(2008)
The Grand Inquisitor
as Hazel Reedy
(2006)
(2006)
Dalton Trumbo: Rebel in Hollywood
as Herself
(1996)
Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
as Herself
(1988)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
as Self (archive footage)
(1981)
Terror Among Us
as Marge
(1972)
Jigsaw
as Dr. Gehlen
(1971)
Johnny Got His Gun
as Joe's Mother
(1969)
Fear No Evil
as Mrs. Varney
(1960)
The Plunderers
as Kate Miller
(1959)
Blue Denim
as Jessie Bartley
(1957)
Bombers B-52
as Edith Brennan
(1957)
Back from the Dead
as Kate Hazelton
(1956)
No Place to Hide
as Anne Dobson
(1955)
A Word to the Wives...
as Alice
(1954)
With This Ring
as Elise Miller John
(1954)
Diplomatic Passport
as Judy Anderson
(1952)
Actors and Sin
as Marcia Tillayou (segment Actor's Blood)
(1952)
The Happy Time
as Susan Bonnard
(1949)
Jigsaw
as Mrs. Hartley's Secretary (uncredited)
(1949)
Take One False Step
as Martha Wier
(1949)
Mary Ryan, Detective
as Mary Ryan
(1949)
She Loves Me Not
as Midge Mercer
(1948)
Raw Deal
as Ann Martin
(1948)
The Inside Story
as Francine Taylor
(1947)
Carnegie Hall
as Nora Ryan
(1947)
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
as Martha Gray
(1946)
A Letter for Evie
as Evie O'Connor
(1945)
The Valley of Decision
as Constance Scott
(1944)
Twenty Years After
as (archive footage)
(1944)
Music for Millions
as Rosalind
(1944)
Bride by Mistake
as Sylvia Lockwood
(1944)
None Shall Escape
as Marja Pacierkowski
(1943)
The Human Comedy
as Diana Steed
(1943)
Thousands Cheer
as Marsha Hunt
(1943)
Cry 'Havoc'
as Flo Norris
(1943)
Lost Angel
as Katie Mallory
(1943)
Pilot #5
as Freddie Andrews
(1942)
Panama Hattie
as Leila Tree
(1942)
Joe Smith, American
as Mary Smith
(1942)
Seven Sweethearts
as Regina 'Reggie' Van Maaster
(1942)
The Affairs of Martha
as Martha Lindstrom
(1942)
Kid Glove Killer
as Jane Mitchell
(1941)
Blossoms in the Dust
as Charlotte
(1941)
Cheers for Miss Bishop
as Hope Thompson
(1941)
Unholy Partners
as Gail Fenton
(1941)
The Penalty
as Katherine Logan
(1941)
I'll Wait for You
as Pauline Miller
(1941)
The Trial of Mary Dugan
as Agatha Hall
(1940)
Pride and Prejudice
as Mary Bennet
(1940)
(1940)
Irene
as Miss Eleanor Worth
(1940)
Flight Command
as Claire
(1940)
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
as Barbara Braun
(1940)
Women in Hiding
as Jane Taylor
(1939)
These Glamour Girls
as Betty Ainsbridge
(1939)
The Hardys Ride High
as Susan Bowen
(1939)
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
as Kitty Crusper
(1939)
Winter Carnival
as Lucy Morgan
(1939)
Star Reporter
as Barbara Burnette
(1939)
The Long Shot
as Martha Sharon
(1939)
Rhumba Rhythm at the Hollywood La Conga
as Herself (uncredited)
(1938)
Come On, Leathernecks!
as Valerie Taylor
(1937)
Easy Living
as Girl Getting Coat Dropped on Her at Finale (uncredited)
(1937)
Born to the West
as Judy Worstall
(1937)
Thunder Trail
as Amy Morgan
(1937)
Annapolis Salute
as Julia Clemens
(1937)
Murder Goes to College
as Nora Barry
(1936)
Hollywood Boulevard
as Patricia Blakeford
(1936)
Desert Gold
as Judith 'Judy' Belding
(1936)
Gentle Julia
as Julia Atwater
(1936)
The Accusing Finger
as Claire Patterson
(1936)
The Arizona Raiders
as Harriett Lindsay
(1936)
College Holiday
as Sylvia Smith
(1936)
Easy to Take
as Donna Westlake
(1935)
The Virginia Judge
as Mary Lee Calvert