Marsha Hunt

Acting

Marsha Hunt

Born 1917-10-17 · Chicago, Illinois, USA

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.

Acting credits

Jigsaw poster
7.0

In this pilot for the 1972-73 series, a detective specializing in missing persons cases finds himself accused of murder after being found unconscious in the apartment of a slain state official.

Jigsaw

1972

Thunder Trail poster
8.0

A wagon train is robbed by a gang of bandits who kill everyone but a pair of young brothers. Years later, the brothers join force to bring the bandits' leader to justice.

Thunder Trail

1937

Pride and Prejudice poster
6.9

In early 19th century England, Mr and Mrs Bennet's five unmarried daughters vie for the affections of rich and eligible Mr Bingley and his status-conscious friend, Mr Darcy, who have moved into their neighbourhood. While Bingley takes an immediate liking to eldest daughter Jane, Darcy has difficulty adapting to local society and repeatedly clashes with second-eldest Elizabeth.

Pride and Prejudice

1940

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind poster
8.2

This documentary revisits the making of Gone with the Wind via archival footage, screen tests, insightful interviews and rare film footage.

The Making of a Legend: Gone with the Wind

1988

Johnny Got His Gun poster
7.5

A young American soldier, rendered in pseudocoma from an artillery shell from WWI, recalls his life leading up to that point.

Johnny Got His Gun

1971

The Valley of Decision poster
7.2

Mary Rafferty comes from a poor family of steel mill workers in 19th Century Pittsburgh. Her family objects when she goes to work as a maid for the wealthy Scott family which controls the mill. Mary catches the attention of handsome scion Paul Scott, but their romance is complicated by Paul's engagement to someone else and a bitter strike among the mill workers.

The Valley of Decision

1945

Panama Hattie poster
5.7

Sailors and spies mingle in between the acts at Hattie's nightclub in the Canal Zone.

Panama Hattie

1942

Cry 'Havoc' poster
6.5

The Army nurses on Bataan need help badly, but when it arrives, it sure isn't what they expected. A motley crew, including a Southern belle, a waitress, and a stripper, show up. Many conflicts arise among these women who are thrown together in what is a desperate and ultimately hopeless situation.

Cry 'Havoc'

1943

Fear No Evil poster
6.9

A psychiatrist specializing in the occult becomes involved in the case of a man who is possessed by a spirit in an antique mirror. The man's fiance discovers that the mirror is able to bring back her former boyfriend, who had been killed in a car accident, from the dead.

Fear No Evil

1969

Raw Deal poster
6.7

Joe Sullivan is itching to get out of prison. He's taken the rap for his accomplice Rick, a sadistic mobster who owes him $50,000 from the job they pulled. Rick sets up an escape for Joe, assuming that Joe will be killed while fleeing. But with the help of his love-struck girl Pat and his sympathetic legal caseworker Ann, Joe gets further than Rick intended...

Raw Deal

1948

Kid Glove Killer poster
6.4

Van Heflin stars as the head of a city crime lab who tries to solve the murder of the town mayor by scientifically analyzing evidence.

Kid Glove Killer

1942

Hell Town poster
NR

A cattleman hires his cousin, Dare Rudd, to head a cattle drive. However, he doesn’t bargain for Dare taking an interest in his girlfriend or losing his money to card sharks

Hell Town

1937

Seven Sweethearts poster
6.3

Little Delft, Michigan follows the customs of old-world Holland and is known for its Tulip Festival. The owner of the hotel insists that his seven daughters marry in order, from eldest to youngest.

Seven Sweethearts

1942

Flight Command poster
5.9

A rookie flyer, Ens. Alan Drake, joins the famous Hellcats Squadron right out of flight school in Pensacola. He doesn't make a great first impression when he is forced to ditch his airplane and parachute to safety when he arrives at the base but is unable to land due to heavy fog. On his first day on the job, his poor shooting skills results in the Hellcats losing an air combat competition. His fellow pilots accept him anyways but they think he's crossed the line when they erroneously conclude that while their CO Billy Gray is away, Drake has an affair with his wife Lorna. Drake is now an outcast and is prepared to resign from the Navy but his extreme heroism in saving Billy Gray's life turns things around.

Flight Command

1940

Take One False Step poster
5.4

Catherine Sykes disappears after a midnight drive with Professor Andrew Gentling . When she's presumed murdered, his friend Martha convinces him that he's a prime suspect and should investigate before he's arrested.

Take One False Step

1949

Born to the West poster
4.9

Dare Rudd takes a shine to his cattleman cousin Tom's girlfriend who asks Tom to hire Dare to head the big cattle drive. Dare loses the money for the drive to cardsharps, but Tom wins it back, but Dare must save Tom's life.

Born to the West

1937

Star Reporter poster
3.9

An idealistic young newspaper reporter crusades against organized crime.

Star Reporter

1939

Twenty Years After poster
8.0

This short celebrates the 20th anniversary of MGM. Segments are shown from several early hits, then from a number of 1944 releases.

Twenty Years After

1944

Easy Living poster
7.2

J.B. Ball, a rich financier, gets fed up with his free-spending family. He takes his wife's just-bought (very expensive) sable coat and throws it out the window, it lands on poor hard-working girl Mary Smith. But it isn't so easy to just give away something so valuable, as he soon learns.

Easy Living

1937

College Holiday poster
5.7

College students rally to save a struggling hotel from closing. Comedy.

College Holiday

1936

Bombers B-52 poster
5.8

Sgt. Chuch Brennan always disliked playboy and hotshot, Col. Jim Herlihy. Now Chuck has even more reason to, Jim is dating his daughter, Lois.

Bombers B-52

1957

Lost Angel poster
8.0

Alpha's been raised along scientific principles, and will make Mike Regan a great human interest story for his paper. But when his interview prompts Alpha to run away from the institute and ask him to show her some magic, Mike gets more responsibility than he bargained for. Especially since another story of his, one involving gangsters, has also come home to roost.

Lost Angel

1943

Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman poster
6.4

A nightclub singer uses alcohol in excess to sooth her painful life.

Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman

1947

Thousands Cheer poster
6.4

Acrobat Eddie Marsh is in the army now. His first act is to become friendly with Kathryn Jones, the colonel's pretty daughter. Their romance hits a few snags, including disapproval from her father. Eddie's also plagued by fear of having an accident during his family's trapeze act in the army variety show, which also features a gallery of MGM stars.

Thousands Cheer

1943