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.
2021
2015
as Self
2010
as Self
2008
as Norah Strinberg
2008
as Hazel Reedy
2006
2006
as Herself
1996
as Herself
1988
as Self (archive footage)
1988
as Elvi Rogers
1987
as Anne Jameson
1986
as Harriet
1984
as Elvira Tree
1981
as Marge
1974
1973
1972
as Dr. Gehlen
1971
as Joe's Mother
1969
as Mrs. Bellows
1969
as Mrs. Varney
1968
as Claudia Loring
1968
1967
1967
1967
as Sissy Cardwell
1965
as Mrs. Southworth
1964
as Mrs. Ely
1963
1963
as Francesca Fields
1962
as Cora Wilcox
1961
1961
as Gloria Bonner
1961
as Della Martin
1960
as Kate Miller
1960
as Aunt Cecile Blackman
1959
1959
as Mrs. Henderson
1959
1959
as Jessie Bartley
1959
as Jennifer Peck
1957
as Edith Brennan
1957
as Kate Hazelton
1957
1956
as Claire Andrews
1956
as Julie Reynolds
1956
as Dr. Sarah Martin
1956
as Catha Duncan
1956
as Anne Dobson
1955
as Mary
1955
as Blanche Herbert
1955
as Sarah
1955
as Alice
1954
as Ann Williams
1954
as Julie Brennan
1954
as Judy Anderson
1954
as Elise Miller John
1952
as Susan Bonnard
1952
as Marcia Tillayou (segment Actor's Blood)
1950
1949
as Midge Mercer
1949
as Mary Ryan
1949
as Martha Wier
1949
as Mrs. Hartley's Secretary (uncredited)
1948
as Janet Willson
1948
as Kate Brookfield (uncredited)
1948
as Viola
1948
as Phoebe Throssel
1948
as Ann Martin
1948
as Francine Taylor
1947
as Martha Gray
1947
as Nora Ryan
1946
as Evie O'Connor
1945
as Constance Scott
1944
as Rosalind
1944
as Sylvia Lockwood
1944
as Marja Pacierkowski
1944
as (archive footage)
1943
as Katie Mallory
1943
as Flo Norris
1943
as Marsha Hunt
1943
as Freddie Andrews
1943
as Diana Steed
1942
as Regina 'Reggie' Van Maaster
1942
as Leila Tree
1942
as Martha Lindstrom
1942
as Jane Mitchell
1942
as Mary Smith
1941
as Gail Fenton
1941
as Charlotte
1941
as Pauline Miller
1941
as Katherine Logan
1941
as Hope Thompson
1941
as Agatha Hall
1940
as Claire
1940
as Barbara Braun
1940
as Mary Bennet
1940
as Jane Taylor
1940
as Self
1940
as Miss Eleanor Worth
1939
as Kitty Crusper
1939
as Herself (uncredited)
1939
as Betty Ainsbridge
1939
as Lucy Morgan
1939
as Susan Bowen
1939
as Barbara Burnette
1939
as Martha Sharon
1938
as Valerie Taylor
1937
as Judy Worstall
1937
as Amy Morgan
1937
as Julia Clemens
1937
as Girl Getting Coat Dropped on Her at Finale (uncredited)
1937
as Nora Barry
1936
as Sylvia Smith
1936
as Claire Patterson
1936
as Donna Westlake
1936
as Patricia Blakeford
1936
as Harriett Lindsay
1936
as Julia Atwater
1936
as Judith 'Judy' Belding
1935
as Mary Lee Calvert