
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