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.
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Movies (80)
Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission
2021 · Self
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
2015 · Self
Empire State Building Murders
2008 · Norah Strinberg
The Grand Inquisitor
2008 · Hazel Reedy
Chloe's Prayer
2006
Dalton Trumbo: Rebel in Hollywood
2006 · Herself
Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
1996 · Herself
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988 · Self (archive footage)
Terror Among Us
1981 · Marge
Jigsaw
1972 · Dr. Gehlen
Johnny Got His Gun
1971 · Joe's Mother
Fear No Evil
1969 · Mrs. Varney
The Plunderers
1960 · Kate Miller
Blue Denim
1959 · Jessie Bartley
Bombers B-52
1957 · Edith Brennan
Back from the Dead
1957 · Kate Hazelton
No Place to Hide
1956 · Anne Dobson
A Word to the Wives...
1955 · Alice
Diplomatic Passport
1954 · Judy Anderson
With This Ring
1954 · Elise Miller John
The Happy Time
1952 · Susan Bonnard
Actors and Sin
1952 · Marcia Tillayou (segment Actor's Blood)
She Loves Me Not
1949 · Midge Mercer
Mary Ryan, Detective
1949 · Mary Ryan
Take One False Step
1949 · Martha Wier
Jigsaw
1949 · Mrs. Hartley's Secretary (uncredited)
Raw Deal
1948 · Ann Martin
The Inside Story
1948 · Francine Taylor
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
1947 · Martha Gray
Carnegie Hall
1947 · Nora Ryan
A Letter for Evie
1946 · Evie O'Connor
The Valley of Decision
1945 · Constance Scott
Music for Millions
1944 · Rosalind
Bride by Mistake
1944 · Sylvia Lockwood
None Shall Escape
1944 · Marja Pacierkowski
Twenty Years After
1944 · (archive footage)
Lost Angel
1943 · Katie Mallory
Cry 'Havoc'
1943 · Flo Norris
Thousands Cheer
1943 · Marsha Hunt
Pilot #5
1943 · Freddie Andrews
The Human Comedy
1943 · Diana Steed
Seven Sweethearts
1942 · Regina 'Reggie' Van Maaster
Panama Hattie
1942 · Leila Tree
The Affairs of Martha
1942 · Martha Lindstrom
Kid Glove Killer
1942 · Jane Mitchell
Joe Smith, American
1942 · Mary Smith
Unholy Partners
1941 · Gail Fenton
Blossoms in the Dust
1941 · Charlotte
I'll Wait for You
1941 · Pauline Miller
The Penalty
1941 · Katherine Logan
Cheers for Miss Bishop
1941 · Hope Thompson
The Trial of Mary Dugan
1941 · Agatha Hall
Flight Command
1940 · Claire
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
1940 · Barbara Braun
Pride and Prejudice
1940 · Mary Bennet
Women in Hiding
1940 · Jane Taylor
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940 · Self
Irene
1940 · Miss Eleanor Worth
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
1939 · Kitty Crusper
Rhumba Rhythm at the Hollywood La Conga
1939 · Herself (uncredited)
These Glamour Girls
1939 · Betty Ainsbridge
Winter Carnival
1939 · Lucy Morgan
The Hardys Ride High
1939 · Susan Bowen
Star Reporter
1939 · Barbara Burnette
The Long Shot
1939 · Martha Sharon
Come On, Leathernecks!
1938 · Valerie Taylor
Born to the West
1937 · Judy Worstall
Hell Town
1937 · Judy Rustoe
Thunder Trail
1937 · Amy Morgan
Annapolis Salute
1937 · Julia Clemens
Easy Living
1937 · Girl Getting Coat Dropped on Her at Finale (uncredited)
Murder Goes to College
1937 · Nora Barry
College Holiday
1936 · Sylvia Smith
The Accusing Finger
1936 · Claire Patterson
Easy to Take
1936 · Donna Westlake
Hollywood Boulevard
1936 · Patricia Blakeford
The Arizona Raiders
1936 · Harriett Lindsay
Gentle Julia
1936 · Julia Atwater
Desert Gold
1936 · Judith 'Judy' Belding
The Virginia Judge
1935 · Mary Lee Calvert
TV shows (35)
Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
2010 · Self
The Play on One
1988 · Elvi Rogers
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987 · Anne Jameson
Matlock
1986 · Harriet
Murder, She Wrote
1984 · Elvira Tree
Medical Story
1975 · Sylvia Brent
Harry O
1974
Police Story
1973 · Mrs. Hines
Marcus Welby, M.D.
1969 · Mrs. Bellows
The Name of the Game
1968 · Claudia Loring
The Outsider
1968
Accidental Family
1967
Ironside
1967 · Sissy Cardwell
Run for Your Life
1965 · Mrs. Southworth
Profiles in Courage
1964 · Mrs. Ely
Breaking Point
1963
The Outer Limits
1963 · Francesca Fields
Sam Benedict
1962 · Cora Wilcox
Ben Casey
1961
Cain's Hundred
1961 · Gloria Bonner
The Defenders
1961 · Della Martin
My Three Sons
1960 · Aunt Cecile Blackman
The Detectives
1959
The Twilight Zone
1959 · Mrs. Henderson
Laramie
1959
Peck's Bad Girl
1959 · Jennifer Peck
Panic!
1957
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · Claire Andrews, Dr. Sarah Martin, Julie Reynolds, Catha Duncan
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955 · Mary
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955 · Blanche Herbert
Gunsmoke
1955 · Sarah
Climax!
1954 · Ann Williams, Julie Brennan
Your Show of Shows
1950
Studio One
1948 · Janet Willson, Kate Brookfield (uncredited)
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948 · Viola, Phoebe Throssel