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Marsha Hunt (actress)
Encyclopedia
Marsha Hunt is an American film
, theater, and television
actress who was blacklisted by Hollywood movie studio
executives in the 1950s.
signed her to a contract in 1934. At 18 years of age, she made her film debut in The Virginia Judge.
In 1938, she married film director
Jerry Hopper
; they were divorced in 1943. Three years later, in 1946, she married television
and film
writer
Robert Presnell, Jr., which lasted until his death in June 1986.
During the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Hunt signed a number of petition
s promoting liberal ideals. She was also a member of the Committee for the First Amendment
. Because of this association, her name appeared in the pamphlet Red Channels
. Although she and her husband, Robert Presnell, were never called before the House Un-American Activities Commission (HUAC), like Charlie Chaplin
, their names were put on the blacklist, and they found it extremely difficult to find work. On October 27, 1947, she flew with a group of about 30 actors, directors, writers, and filmmakers (including John Huston
, Humphrey Bogart
, Lauren Bacall
and Danny Kaye
), to Washington D.C. to protest the actions of Congress. When she returned to Hollywood three days later, things had changed. She was asked to denounce her activities if she wanted to find more work—but she refused. For her, the issue here was not Communism
, but freedom of speech, privacy of opinion, freedom of advocacy, and freedom of democracy. She did keep working until the publication of Red Channels, but afterwards it became very hard.
She had worked steadily from 1935 until 1949, appearing in fifty-two films. After being blacklisted, she appeared in only three films in the next eight years. In 1957, she started getting more work, appearing in six films during the next three years, at which time she semi-retired in 1960. Since then she has appeared only in small roles in five films and numerous television shows, including an episode of the ABC
medical drama
Breaking Point.
In 1971, she would appear in a movie written by fellow blacklist member, Dalton Trumbo
(whom Kirk Douglas
had gotten back on the screen with Spartacus
), in the movie Johnny Got His Gun
, playing the mother of Timothy Bottoms
.
Since 1980, she has been the honorary mayor
of Sherman Oaks, California. Hunt is still very liberal, and is very concerned with such issues as global pollution, worldwide poverty, peace in third world nations, and population growth.
On 8 February 1988, she appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation
, in the episode Too Short a Season as Anne Jameson, wife of an admiral who took an age reversing drug.
In 1993, her book The Way We Wore: Styles of the 1930s and '40s and Our World Since Then was published by Fallbrook Publishing.
Hunt played Elizabeth Lyons in a 2005 movie, Chloe's Prayer. She produced the CD Tony London: Songs From The Heart with the Page Cavanaugh Trio that includes two of the fifty songs that Hunt has composed.
As of 2007, Marsha Hunt has served for many years and continues to serve on the Advisory Board of Directors for the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center, a large non-profit in the San Fernando Valley where she continues to advocate for adults and children affected by homelessness and mental illness.
In January 2008, Hunt appeared in a short film noir, The Grand Inquisitor, as Hazel Reedy, the could-be widow of one of America's most famous unapprehended serial killers. The film premiered at the 6th annual Noir City Film Festival in San Francisco.
Hunt also made guest appearances in TV series such as Matlock, Star Trek: The Next Generation
and Murder, She Wrote
.
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, theater, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actress who was blacklisted by Hollywood movie studio
Movie studio
A movie studio is a term used to describe a major entertainment company or production company that has its own privately owned studio facility or facilities that are used to film movies...
executives in the 1950s.
Career
Marsha Hunt attended the Theodore Irving School of Dramatics during her high school years. She was also a very good singer, and a model, before Paramount PicturesParamount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film production and distribution company, located at 5555 Melrose Avenue in Hollywood. Founded in 1912 and currently owned by media conglomerate Viacom, it is America's oldest existing film studio; it is also the last major film studio still...
signed her to a contract in 1934. At 18 years of age, she made her film debut in The Virginia Judge.
In 1938, she married film director
Film director
A film director is a person who directs the actors and film crew in filmmaking. They control a film's artistic and dramatic nathan roach, while guiding the technical crew and actors.-Responsibilities:...
Jerry Hopper
Jerry Hopper
Jerry Hopper was an American film and television director, active from the mid-1940s through the early 1970s....
; they were divorced in 1943. Three years later, in 1946, she married television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
and film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
writer
Writer
A writer is a person who produces literature, such as novels, short stories, plays, screenplays, poetry, or other literary art. Skilled writers are able to use language to portray ideas and images....
Robert Presnell, Jr., which lasted until his death in June 1986.
During the late 1930s and into the 1940s, Hunt signed a number of petition
Petition
A petition is a request to do something, most commonly addressed to a government official or public entity. Petitions to a deity are a form of prayer....
s promoting liberal ideals. She was also a member of the Committee for the First Amendment
Committee for the First Amendment
The Committee for the First Amendment was an action group formed in September 1947 by actors in support of the Hollywood Ten during the hearings of the House Un-American Activities Committee...
. Because of this association, her name appeared in the pamphlet Red Channels
Red Channels
Red Channels: The Report of Communist Influence in Radio and Television is an anti-Communist tract published in the United States at the height of the Red Scare...
. Although she and her husband, Robert Presnell, were never called before the House Un-American Activities Commission (HUAC), like Charlie Chaplin
Charlie Chaplin
Sir Charles Spencer "Charlie" Chaplin, KBE was an English comic actor, film director and composer best known for his work during the silent film era. He became the most famous film star in the world before the end of World War I...
, their names were put on the blacklist, and they found it extremely difficult to find work. On October 27, 1947, she flew with a group of about 30 actors, directors, writers, and filmmakers (including John Huston
John Huston
John Marcellus Huston was an American film director, screenwriter and actor. He wrote most of the 37 feature films he directed, many of which are today considered classics: The Maltese Falcon , The Treasure of the Sierra Madre , Key Largo , The Asphalt Jungle , The African Queen , Moulin Rouge...
, Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey Bogart
Humphrey DeForest Bogart was an American actor. He is widely regarded as a cultural icon.The American Film Institute ranked Bogart as the greatest male star in the history of American cinema....
, Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall
Lauren Bacall is an American film and stage actress and model, known for her distinctive husky voice and sultry looks.She first emerged as leading lady in the Humphrey Bogart film To Have And Have Not and continued on in the film noir genre, with appearances in The Big Sleep and Dark Passage ,...
and Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye
Danny Kaye was a celebrated American actor, singer, dancer, and comedian...
), to Washington D.C. to protest the actions of Congress. When she returned to Hollywood three days later, things had changed. She was asked to denounce her activities if she wanted to find more work—but she refused. For her, the issue here was not Communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
, but freedom of speech, privacy of opinion, freedom of advocacy, and freedom of democracy. She did keep working until the publication of Red Channels, but afterwards it became very hard.
She had worked steadily from 1935 until 1949, appearing in fifty-two films. After being blacklisted, she appeared in only three films in the next eight years. In 1957, she started getting more work, appearing in six films during the next three years, at which time she semi-retired in 1960. Since then she has appeared only in small roles in five films and numerous television shows, including an episode of the ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
medical drama
Medical drama
A medical drama is a television program, in which events center upon a hospital, an ambulance staff, or any medical environment.In the United States, most medical episodes are one hour long and, more often than not, are set in a hospital. Most current medical Dramatic programming go beyond the...
Breaking Point.
In 1971, she would appear in a movie written by fellow blacklist member, Dalton Trumbo
Dalton Trumbo
James Dalton Trumbo was an American screenwriter and novelist, and one of the Hollywood Ten, a group of film professionals who refused to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee in 1947 during the committee's investigation of Communist influences in the motion picture industry...
(whom Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas
Kirk Douglas is an American stage and film actor, film producer and author. His popular films include Out of the Past , Champion , Ace in the Hole , The Bad and the Beautiful , Lust for Life , Paths of Glory , Gunfight at the O.K...
had gotten back on the screen with Spartacus
Spartacus (film)
Spartacus is a 1960 American epic historical drama film directed by Stanley Kubrick and based on the novel of the same name by Howard Fast...
), in the movie Johnny Got His Gun
Johnny Got His Gun
Johnny Got His Gun is an anti-war novel written in 1938 by American novelist and screenwriter Dalton Trumboand published by J. B. Lippincott company.-Plot:...
, playing the mother of Timothy Bottoms
Timothy Bottoms
-Early life:Bottoms was born in Santa Barbara, California, the eldest son of Betty and James "Bud" Bottoms, who is a sculptor and art teacher. He is the brother of actors Joseph Bottoms , Sam Bottoms and Ben Bottoms . In 1967, Bottoms toured Europe as part of the Santa Barbara Madrigal...
.
Since 1980, she has been the honorary mayor
Mayor
In many countries, a Mayor is the highest ranking officer in the municipal government of a town or a large urban city....
of Sherman Oaks, California. Hunt is still very liberal, and is very concerned with such issues as global pollution, worldwide poverty, peace in third world nations, and population growth.
On 8 February 1988, she appeared in Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
, in the episode Too Short a Season as Anne Jameson, wife of an admiral who took an age reversing drug.
In 1993, her book The Way We Wore: Styles of the 1930s and '40s and Our World Since Then was published by Fallbrook Publishing.
Hunt played Elizabeth Lyons in a 2005 movie, Chloe's Prayer. She produced the CD Tony London: Songs From The Heart with the Page Cavanaugh Trio that includes two of the fifty songs that Hunt has composed.
As of 2007, Marsha Hunt has served for many years and continues to serve on the Advisory Board of Directors for the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center, a large non-profit in the San Fernando Valley where she continues to advocate for adults and children affected by homelessness and mental illness.
In January 2008, Hunt appeared in a short film noir, The Grand Inquisitor, as Hazel Reedy, the could-be widow of one of America's most famous unapprehended serial killers. The film premiered at the 6th annual Noir City Film Festival in San Francisco.
Selected filmography
- The Virginia Judge (19351935 in film-Events:*Judy Garland signs a contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer .*Seven year old Shirley Temple wins a special Academy Award.*The Bantu Educational Kinema Experiment started in order to educate the Bantu peoples.-Top grossing films:-Academy Awards:...
) - The Arizona RaidersThe Arizona RaidersThe Arizona Raiders is a 1936 American film directed by James P. Hogan.The film is also known as Bad Men of Arizona .- Cast :*Buster Crabbe as "Laramie" Nelson*Raymond Hatton as "Tracks" Williams...
(19361936 in filmThe year 1936 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 29 - Fritz Lang's first Hollywood film Fury, starring Spencer Tracy and Bruce Cabot, is released.*November 6 - first Porky Pig animated cartoon...
) - College HolidayCollege HolidayCollege Holiday is a 1936 Paramount comedy with a plot elements related to eugenics. The film stars Jack Benny, George Burns, Gracie Allen, and Martha Raye. It was directed by Frank Tuttle....
(1936) - Hollywood Boulevard (1936)
- Desert Gold (1936)
- Born to the WestBorn to the WestBorn to the West is a 1937 American Western film starring John Wayne.-Cast:* John Wayne - Dare Rudd* Marsha Hunt - Judy Rustoe* Johnny Mack Brown - Tom Fillmore* John Patterson - Lyn Hardy* Monte Blue - Bart Hammond...
- reissued as Hell Town (19371937 in filmThe year 1937 in film involved some significant events, including the Walt Disney production of the first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.- Events :*April 16 - Way Out West premieres in the US....
) - These Glamour GirlsThese Glamour GirlsThese Glamour Girls is a 1939 comedy-drama film directed by S. Sylvan Simon. It stars Lana Turner and Ann Ruthford.-Plot summary:A drunken college student invites a dance hostess to the big college dance and then forgets he asked her. When she shows up at school, he tries to get rid of her, but she...
(19391939 in filmThe year 1939 in motion pictures can be justified as being called the most outstanding one ever, when it comes to the high quality and high attendance at the large set of the best films that premiered in the year .- Events :Motion picture historians and film often rate...
) - Irene (19401940 in filmThe year 1940 in film involved some significant events, including the premieres of the Walt Disney classics Pinocchio and Fantasia.-Events:*February 7 - Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio is released....
) - Flight CommandFlight CommandFlight Command is a 1940 film about a cocky U.S. Navy pilot who has problems with his new squadron and falls for the wife of his commander...
(1940) - Pride and PrejudicePride and Prejudice (1940 film)Pride and Prejudice is a 1940 film adaptation of Jane Austen's novel of the same name. Robert Z. Leonard directed, and Aldous Huxley served as one of the screenwriters of the film. It is adapted specifically from the stage adaptation by Helen Jerome in addition to Jane Austen's novel...
(1940) - I'll Wait for YouI'll Wait for You"I'll Wait for You" is a single by American country music artist Joe Nichols. Released in July 2006, the single reached a peak position of #7 on the U.S. Billoard Hot Country Songs chart, and a peak of #71 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100....
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
) - Blossoms in the DustBlossoms in the DustBlossoms in the Dust is a 1941 American film which tells the story of the non-fictional Edna Gladney who takes it upon herself to help orphaned children to find homes, despite the opposition of the "good" citizens who think that illegitimate children are beneath their interest...
(19411941 in filmThe year 1941 in film involved some significant events.-Events:Citizen Kane, consistently rated as one of the greatest films of all time, was released in 1941.-Top grossing films :-Academy Awards:...
) - Unholy PartnersUnholy PartnersUnholy Partners is a black-and-white film starring Edward G. Robinson, Laraine Day, Edward Arnold, and Marsha Hunt. The newspaper story was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Synopsis:...
(1941) - Kid Glove KillerKid Glove KillerKid Glove Killer is a 1942 crime film starring Van Heflin as a criminologist investigating the murder of a mayor. The B film was the feature-length directorial debut of Fred Zinnemann.-Cast:*Van Heflin as Gordon McKay*Marsha Hunt as Jane Mitchell...
(19421942 in filmThe year 1942 in film involved some significant events, in particular the release of a film consistently rated as one of the greatest of all time, Casablanca.-Events:...
) - The Affairs of MarthaThe Affairs of MarthaThe Affairs of Martha is a 1942 romantic comedy film directed by Jules Dassin. A young maid, Marsha Hunt, falls in love with Jeff Sommerfield and the two marry on impulse before he leaves for an anthropological trip. Before he leaves, he asks her to get the marriage annulled, but she does not do so...
(1942) - Panama HattiePanama HattiePanama Hattie is a musical with music and lyrics by Cole Porter and book by Herbert Fields and B. G. DeSylva. It is also the title of a 1942 MGM musical based upon the play...
(1942) - Cry 'Havoc'Cry 'Havoc'This article is about the 1943 motion picture. For the board game see Cry Havoc.Cry 'Havoc' is a 1943 American drama film, produced by MGM and directed by Richard Thorpe...
(19431943 in filmThe year 1943 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 3 - 1st missing persons telecast * February 20 - American film studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor films....
)
- Lost AngelLost Angel (film)Lost Angel is a 1943 film starring Margaret O'Brien as a little orphan girl raised to be a genius. James Craig plays a reporter who shows her the world outside the Institute of Child Psychology.-Plot:...
(1943) - The Human ComedyThe Human Comedy (film)The Human Comedy is a 1943 drama film directed by Clarence Brown and adapted by Howard Estabrook. It is often thought to be based on the William Saroyan novel of the same name, but actually Saroyan wrote the screenplay first, was fired from the movie project, and quickly wrote the novel and...
(1943) - Thousands CheerThousands CheerThousands Cheer is a 1943 American comedy musical film released by MGM. Produced at the height of the Second World War, the film was intended as a morale booster for American troops and their families.-Plot:The film is essentially a two-part program...
(1944) - None Shall EscapeNone Shall EscapeNone Shall Escape is a 1944 war film. Even though the film was made during World War II, the setting is a post-war Nuremberg-style war crimes trial...
(19441944 in filmThe year 1944 in film involved some significant events, including the wholesome, award-winning Going My Way plus popular murder mysteries such as Double Indemnity, Gaslight and Laura.-Events:*July 20 - Since You Went Away is released....
) - The Valley of DecisionThe Valley of DecisionThe Valley of Decision is a film set in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA in the late 19th century. It tells the story of a young Irish house maid who falls in love with the son of her employer, a local steel mill owner...
(19451945 in filmThe year 1945 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* Paramount Studios releases theatrical short cartoon titled The Friendly Ghost, featuring a ghost named Casper.* With Rossellini's Roma Città aperta, Italian neorealist cinema begins....
) - Music for MillionsMusic for MillionsMusic for Millions is a 1944 musical comedy film directed by Henry Koster. It was nominated for an Academy Award in 1946.-Plot:"Mike" , age 6, arrives in New York to stay with her sister Barbara Ainsworth , who lived together with a group of girls, her co-players in a symphony orchestra...
(1945) - A Letter for EvieA Letter for Evie-Plot:This film is a Cyrano type love story with a wartime setting. A soldier , answers a letter intended for his more handsome and wolfish buddy .-Cast:* Marsha Hunt - Evie O'Connor* John Carroll - Edgar 'Wolf' Larson...
(19461946 in filmThe year 1946 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*November 21 - William Wyler's The Best Years of Our Lives premieres in New York featuring an ensemble cast including Fredric March, Myrna Loy, Dana Andrews, Teresa Wright, and Harold Russell.*December 20 - Frank Capra's It's a...
) - Carnegie Hall (19471947 in filmThe year 1947 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*May 22 - Great Expectations is premiered in New York.*November 24 : The United States House of Representatives of the 80th Congress voted 346 to 17 to approve citations for contempt of Congress against the "Hollywood Ten".*November 25...
) - Smash-Up, the Story of a WomanSmash-Up, the Story of a WomanSmash-Up, the Story of a Woman , also called A Woman Destroyed, is a drama film which tells the story of a nightclub singer who marries a rising singer and falls into alcoholism when she gives up her own career...
(1947) - Raw DealRaw Deal (1948 film)Raw Deal is a 1948 film noir directed by Anthony Mann and shot by cinematographer John Alton.-Plot:Prisoner Joe Sullivan , who has "taken the fall" for an unspecified crime, breaks jail with the help of his girl, Pat...
(1948) - Mary Ryan, Detective (19491949 in filmThe year 1949 in film involved some significant events.-Top grossing films :- Awards :Academy Awards:*Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer, Boris Karloff, starring Bud Abbott and Lou Costello...
) - The Happy TimeThe Happy TimeThe Happy Time is a 1952 movie directed by the award-winning director Richard Fleischer, based on the 1945 novel of the same name by Robert Fontaine, which Samuel A. Taylor turned it into a hit play. A boy, played by Bobby Driscoll, comes of age in a close-knit French-Canadian family. The film...
(19521952 in filmThe year 1952 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* January 10 - Cecil B. DeMille's circus epic, The Greatest Show on Earth, premieres at Radio City Music Hall in New York City....
) - A Word to the WivesA Word to the WivesA Word to the Wives is a 1955 sponsored comedy film about two women, one of whom wants a new kitchen, and decides to trick her husband, with the help of her friend, to buy that new kitchen. She leaves her husband alone as she visits a relative. He tries to prepare some simple meals while she is...
(19551955 in filmThe year 1955 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* November 3 - The musical Guys and Dolls, starring Marlon Brando and Frank Sinatra, debuts.* June 27 - The last ever Republic serial, King of the Carnival, is released....
) - Diplomatic Passport (19561956 in filmThe year 1956 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 5 - The Ten Commandments opens in cinemas and becomes one of the most successful and popular movies of all time, currently ranking 5th on the list of all time moneymakers * February 5 - First showing of documentary films by...
) - Back from the Dead (19571957 in filmThe year 1957 in film involved some significant events.-Events:* October 21 - The movie Jailhouse Rock, starring Elvis Presley, opens.-Top grossing films : After theatrical re-issue-Awards:...
) - Blue DenimBlue DenimBlue Denim was a successful Broadway play by writer James Leo Herlihy, the author of the novels All Fall Down and Midnight Cowboy . It starred Carol Lynley, Warren Berlinger and newcomer Burt Brinckerhoff in the lead male role...
(1959)
Hunt also made guest appearances in TV series such as Matlock, Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
and Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote is an American television mystery series starring Angela Lansbury as mystery writer and amateur detective Jessica Fletcher. The series aired for 12 seasons from 1984 to 1996 on the CBS network, with 264 episodes transmitted. It was followed by four TV films and a spin-off series,...
.