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