Marsha Hunt
Acting • Born 1917-10-17 – Died 2022-09-07
Biography
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
122 credits
Take One False Step
Movie • 1949
Martha Wier
Jigsaw
Movie • 1949
Mrs. Hartley's Secretary (uncredited)
Raw Deal
Movie • 1948
Ann Martin
Thousands Cheer
Movie • 1943
Marsha Hunt
Pride and Prejudice
Movie • 1940
Mary Bennet
The Valley of Decision
Movie • 1945
Constance Scott
Johnny Got His Gun
Movie • 1971
Joe's Mother
Kid Glove Killer
Movie • 1942
Jane Mitchell
None Shall Escape
Movie • 1944
Marja Pacierkowski
The Human Comedy
Movie • 1943
Diana Steed
Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
Movie • 1947
Martha Gray
Ellery Queen, Master Detective
Movie • 1940
Barbara Braun
Empire State Building Murders
Movie • 2008
Norah Strinberg
Cry 'Havoc'
Movie • 1943
Flo Norris
Born to the West
Movie • 1937
Judy Worstall
Blossoms in the Dust
Movie • 1941
Charlotte
Actors and Sin
Movie • 1952
Marcia Tillayou (segment Actor's Blood)
Unholy Partners
Movie • 1941
Gail Fenton
Flight Command
Movie • 1940
Claire
Pilot #5
Movie • 1943
Freddie Andrews
Bombers B-52
Movie • 1957
Edith Brennan
Panama Hattie
Movie • 1942
Leila Tree
Seven Sweethearts
Movie • 1942
Regina 'Reggie' Van Maaster
Carnegie Hall
Movie • 1947
Nora Ryan
Mary Ryan, Detective
Movie • 1949
Mary Ryan
No Place to Hide
Movie • 1956
Anne Dobson
Irene
Movie • 1940
Miss Eleanor Worth
The Grand Inquisitor
Movie • 2008
Hazel Reedy
The Accusing Finger
Movie • 1936
Claire Patterson
Blue Denim
Movie • 1959
Jessie Bartley
Women in Hiding
Movie • 1940
Jane Taylor
Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
Movie • 1996
Herself
Back from the Dead
Movie • 1957
Kate Hazelton
Lost Angel
Movie • 1943
Katie Mallory
The Inside Story
Movie • 1948
Francine Taylor
The Plunderers
Movie • 1960
Kate Miller
Desert Gold
Movie • 1936
Judith 'Judy' Belding
The Arizona Raiders
Movie • 1936
Harriett Lindsay
I'll Wait for You
Movie • 1941
Pauline Miller
These Glamour Girls
Movie • 1939
Betty Ainsbridge
The Happy Time
Movie • 1952
Susan Bonnard
Music for Millions
Movie • 1944
Rosalind
Star Reporter
Movie • 1939
Barbara Burnette
Annapolis Salute
Movie • 1937
Julia Clemens
Bride by Mistake
Movie • 1944
Sylvia Lockwood
A Letter for Evie
Movie • 1946
Evie O'Connor
The Affairs of Martha
Movie • 1942
Martha Lindstrom
College Holiday
Movie • 1936
Sylvia Smith
With This Ring
Movie • 1954
Elise Miller John
Murder Goes to College
Movie • 1937
Nora Barry
Fear No Evil
Movie • 1969
Mrs. Varney
Jigsaw
Movie • 1972
Dr. Gehlen
Easy Living
Movie • 1937
Girl Getting Coat Dropped on Her at Finale (uncredited)
The Long Shot
Movie • 1939
Martha Sharon
The Penalty
Movie • 1941
Katherine Logan
The Hardys Ride High
Movie • 1939
Susan Bowen
Hollywood Boulevard
Movie • 1936
Patricia Blakeford
The Trial of Mary Dugan
Movie • 1941
Agatha Hall
Thunder Trail
Movie • 1937
Amy Morgan
Come On, Leathernecks!
Movie • 1938
Valerie Taylor
Joe Smith, American
Movie • 1942
Mary Smith
Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
Movie • 1939
Kitty Crusper
A Word to the Wives...
Movie • 1955
Alice
Diplomatic Passport
Movie • 1954
Judy Anderson
Winter Carnival
Movie • 1939
Lucy Morgan
Rhumba Rhythm at the Hollywood La Conga
Movie • 1939
Herself (uncredited)
Cheers for Miss Bishop
Movie • 1941
Hope Thompson
Terror Among Us
Movie • 1981
Marge
Hollywood: Style Center of the World
Movie • 1940
Self
Twenty Years After
Movie • 1944
(archive footage)
The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind
Movie • 1988
Self (archive footage)
The Virginia Judge
Movie • 1935
Mary Lee Calvert
Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity
Movie • 2015
Self
Easy to Take
Movie • 1936
Donna Westlake
Journey to Royal: A WWII Rescue Mission
Movie • 2021
Self
Chloe's Prayer
Movie • 2006
Gentle Julia
Movie • 1936
Julia Atwater
Dalton Trumbo: Rebel in Hollywood
Movie • 2006
Herself
She Loves Me Not
Movie • 1949
Midge Mercer
Hell Town
Movie • 1937
Judy Rustoe
Murder, She Wrote
TV • 1984
Elvira Tree
Cain's Hundred
TV • 1961
Gloria Bonner
Star Trek: The Next Generation
TV • 1987
Anne Jameson
My Three Sons
TV • 1960
Aunt Cecile Blackman
Matlock
TV • 1986
Harriet
Marcus Welby, M.D.
TV • 1969
Mrs. Bellows
Gunsmoke
TV • 1955
Sarah
Studio One
TV • 1948
Janet Willson
The Twilight Zone
TV • 1959
Mrs. Henderson
Ironside
TV • 1967
Alfred Hitchcock Presents
TV • 1955
Blanche Herbert
Harry O
TV • 1974
Run for Your Life
TV • 1965
Mrs. Southworth
Moguls & Movie Stars: A History of Hollywood
TV • 2010
Self
Police Story
TV • 1973
Your Show of Shows
TV • 1950
Climax!
TV • 1954
Ann Williams
Profiles in Courage
TV • 1964
Mrs. Ely
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV • 1948
Viola
Accidental Family
TV • 1967
Laramie
TV • 1959
Ben Casey
TV • 1961
The Detectives
TV • 1959
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Claire Andrews
Breaking Point
TV • 1963
The Defenders
TV • 1961
Della Martin
Panic!
TV • 1957
Peck's Bad Girl
TV • 1959
Jennifer Peck
The Outsider
TV • 1968
The Outer Limits
TV • 1963
Francesca Fields
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Julie Reynolds
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Dr. Sarah Martin
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
TV • 1956
Catha Duncan
The Name of the Game
TV • 1968
Claudia Loring
Studio One
TV • 1948
Kate Brookfield (uncredited)
Climax!
TV • 1954
Julie Brennan
Ironside
TV • 1967
Sissy Cardwell
The Philco Television Playhouse
TV • 1948
Phoebe Throssel
The Play on One
TV • 1988
Elvi Rogers
The 20th Century Fox Hour
TV • 1955
Mary
Sam Benedict
TV • 1962
Cora Wilcox
Police Story
TV • 1973
Mrs. Hines