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