Marsha Hunt
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
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Anne Jameson
Murder, She Wrote
Elvira Tree
The Defenders
Della Martin
The Twilight Zone
Mrs. Henderson
Ben Casey
The Philco Television Playhouse
Viola
The Philco Television Playhouse
Phoebe Throssel
Studio One
Janet Willson
Studio One
Kate Brookfield (uncredited)
Marcus Welby, M.D.
Mrs. Bellows
Laramie
The Detectives
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Claire Andrews
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Dr. Sarah Martin
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Julie Reynolds
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
Catha Duncan
Your Show of Shows
The Outer Limits
Francesca Fields
The Name of the Game
Claudia Loring
Cain's Hundred
Gloria Bonner
Run for Your Life
Mrs. Southworth
Sam Benedict
Cora Wilcox
Climax!
Ann Williams
Climax!
Julie Brennan
Profiles in Courage
Mrs. Ely
Harry O
Panic!
Ironside
Ironside
Sissy Cardwell
Police Story
The Outsider
Breaking Point
Matlock
Harriet
Accidental Family
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
Blanche Herbert
My Three Sons
Aunt Cecile Blackman
Gunsmoke
Sarah
The 20th Century Fox Hour
Mary
The Play on One
Elvi Rogers
Born to the West
Judy Worstall
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
Martha Gray
Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
Self
Cheers for Miss Bishop
Hope Thompson
Pride and Prejudice
Mary Bennet
Johnny Got His Gun
Joe's Mother
Jigsaw
Mrs. Hartley's Secretary (uncredited)
The Valley of Decision
Constance Scott
Raw Deal
Ann Martin
Peck's Bad Girl
Jennifer Peck
Blossoms in the Dust
Charlotte
Take One False Step
Martha Wier
Thousands Cheer
Marsha Hunt
Bombers B-52
Edith Brennan
The Penalty
Katherine Logan
Easy Living
Girl Getting Coat Dropped on Her at Finale (uncredited)
The Inside Story
Francine Taylor
Flight Command
Claire
The Plunderers
Kate Miller
Terror Among Us
Marge
None Shall Escape
Marja Pacierkowski
Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission
Irene
Miss Eleanor Worth
Bride by Mistake
Sylvia Lockwood
The Trial of Mary Dugan
Agatha Hall
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Self
The Happy Time
Susan Bonnard
The Affairs of Martha
Martha Lindstrom
The Human Comedy
Diana Steed
Desert Gold
Judith 'Judy' Belding
Cry 'Havoc'
Flo Norris
Kid Glove Killer
Jane Mitchell
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Self (archive footage)
These Glamour Girls
Betty Ainsbridge
Winter Carnival
Lucy Morgan
The Accusing Finger
Claire Patterson
Panama Hattie
Leila Tree
Hollywood Boulevard
Patricia Blakeford
Lost Angel
Katie Mallory
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
Kitty Crusper
Empire State Building Murders
Norah Strinberg
The Long Shot
Martha Sharon
A Letter for Evie
Evie O'Connor
Carnegie Hall
Nora Ryan
With This Ring
Elise Miller John
Actors and Sin
Marcia Tillayou (segment Actor's Blood)
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
Self
Blue Denim
Jessie Bartley
Back from the Dead
Kate Hazelton
Twenty Years After
(archive footage)
The Hardys Ride High
Susan Bowen
Fear No Evil
Mrs. Varney
Women in Hiding
Jane Taylor
Seven Sweethearts
Regina 'Reggie' Van Maaster
Unholy Partners
Gail Fenton
Thunder Trail
Amy Morgan
Mary Ryan, Detective
Mary Ryan
Pilot #5
Freddie Andrews
College Holiday
Sylvia Smith
Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
Herself
Murder Goes to College
Nora Barry
Jigsaw
Dr. Gehlen
Dalton Trumbo: Rebel in Hollywood
Herself
Music for Millions
Rosalind
The Grand Inquisitor
Hazel Reedy
Gentle Julia
Julia Atwater
The Arizona Raiders
Harriett Lindsay
The Virginia Judge
Mary Lee Calvert
Easy to Take
Donna Westlake
Chloe's Prayer
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
Barbara Braun
Star Reporter
Barbara Burnette
I'll Wait for You
Pauline Miller
A Word to the Wives...
Alice
Annapolis Salute
Julia Clemens
She Loves Me Not
Midge Mercer
Joe Smith, American
Mary Smith
Diplomatic Passport
Judy Anderson
Rhumba Rhythm at the Hollywood La Conga
Herself (uncredited)
No Place to Hide
Anne Dobson
Come On, Leathernecks!
Valerie Taylor