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.
115 acting credits
Acting · 115
Star Trek: The Next Generation
1987
Murder, She Wrote
1984
Ironside
1967
The Philco Television Playhouse
1948
The Twilight Zone
1959
My Three Sons
1960
Matlock
1986
Climax!
1954
Ben Casey
1961
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956
The Outer Limits
1963
Studio One
1948
Run for Your Life
1965
The Name of the Game
1968
The Defenders
1961
Marcus Welby, M.D.
1969
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1955
Gunsmoke
1955
Harry O
1974
The Detectives
1959
Laramie
1959
The 20th Century Fox Hour
1955
Police Story
1973
Cain's Hundred
1961
Sam Benedict
1962
The Outsider
1968
Your Show of Shows
1950
Breaking Point
1963
Medical Story
1975
Panic!
1957
The Play on One
1988
Profiles in Courage
1964
Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
2010
Thunder Trail
1937
Accidental Family
1967
Johnny Got His Gun
1971
Peck's Bad Girl
1959
Pride and Prejudice
1940
The Valley of Decision
1945
The Plunderers
1960
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
1940
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
1988
Actors and Sin
1952
Flight Command
1940
Pilot #5
1943
Raw Deal
1948
Cry 'Havoc'
1943
Irene
1940
Born to the West
1937
The Human Comedy
1943
Thousands Cheer
1943
Jigsaw
1949
Easy Living
1937
Hollywood Boulevard
1936
Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
1996
None Shall Escape
1944
Joe Smith, American
1942
Blossoms in the Dust
1941
Desert Gold
1936
The Inside Story
1948
The Accusing Finger
1936
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
1939
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
1947
Take One False Step
1949
Fear No Evil
1969
Panama Hattie
1942
Lost Angel
1943
These Glamour Girls
1939
Bombers B-52
1957
Music for Millions
1944
Jigsaw
1972
Carnegie Hall
1947
Gentle Julia
1936
College Holiday
1936
Murder Goes to College
1937
The Trial of Mary Dugan
1941
A Letter for Evie
1946
Cheers for Miss Bishop
1941
The Affairs of Martha
1942
Twenty Years After
1944
Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission
2021
Empire State Building Murders
2008
Blue Denim
1959
Back from the Dead
1957
Annapolis Salute
1937
Women in Hiding
1940
Seven Sweethearts
1942
Come On, Leathernecks!
1938
Diplomatic Passport
1954
Hell Town
1937
The Long Shot
1939
Unholy Partners
1941
Terror Among Us
1981
The Penalty
1941
The Happy Time
1952
Rhumba Rhythm at the Hollywood La Conga
1939
Kid Glove Killer
1942
The Hardys Ride High
1939
Bride by Mistake
1944
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
1940
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
2015
The Grand Inquisitor
2008
Mary Ryan, Detective
1949
Winter Carnival
1939
I'll Wait for You
1941
No Place to Hide
1956
The Arizona Raiders
1936
With This Ring
1954
The Virginia Judge
1935
Dalton Trumbo: Rebel in Hollywood
2006
Star Reporter
1939
Easy to Take
1936
A Word to the Wives...
1955
She Loves Me Not
1949
Chloe's Prayer
2006