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