who is that girl Hollywood Blacklisted MGM and Paramount Star Dies At 104

Marsha Hunt’s Career Path

At first, Marsha Hunt was not ready to act in movies. However, she was only 17 years old when she signed a deal with Paramount Pictures in June 1935. She then had appearances in 12 films produced by Paramount between 1935 and 1938, including Easy to Take, Gentle Julia, The Accusing Finger, Murder Goes to College, and more.

She appeared several times in films produced by Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures after her contract was canceled in 1938. The following year, she appeared in supporting parts in films including These Glamor Girls, Pride and Prejudice, and Cheers for Miss Bishop.

Marsha Hunt: Who Is She?

Marsha Hunt (born Marcia Virginia Hunt; October 17, 1917 – September 7, 2022) was an American actress, model, and activist with a nearly 80-year career. In the 1950s, during McCarthyism, he was placed on a blacklist of Hollywood film studio executives.

He appeared in several films, such as Born to the West (1937), starring John Wayne, Pride and Prejudice (1940), starring Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier, Kid Glove Killer (1942), starring Van Heflin , Cry ‘Havoc’ (1943), starring Margaret Sullavan and Joan Blondell, The Human Comedy (1943), starring Mickey Rooney, The Happy Time (1952), starring Charles Boyer (1971).

He was involved in the fight against world hunger during the blacklist era, and in his later years he promoted same-sex marriage, helped with homeless shelters, raised awareness of climate change, and encouraged peace among Third World countries.

Marsha Hunt’s Early Years

The younger of two girls, Hunt was born on October 17, 1917, in Chicago, Illinois. Her older sister Marjorie, a teacher, died in 2002. Marcia later changed the spelling of her first name to Marsha. Her parents were Earl Hunt, a lawyer who later became the Social Security Administrator.

In a 1999 book interview, Hunt discussed how his family became active in the Methodist church.

I was fortunate to grow up in the kind of friendly, supportive family environment that fostered growth. My father earned Phi Beta Kappa, the highest academic honor. In the concert and opera world, my mother worked as a vocal teacher and performers’ pianist. My mother was an independent woman even though we didn’t know the phrase at the time. They both grew up in Indiana, a state now known as the Bible Belt. They do not smoke or drink, and they do not utter the Lord’s name disrespectfully. I have never come across a four letter word. It was not present in my lively family.

When Hunt was young, his family moved to New York City, and he began appearing in church services and school plays. At age 16, she earned her diploma from Horace Mann High School for Girls in 1934.

Marsha Hunt’s Modeling Career

Although her parents encouraged her to go to college, Hunt couldn’t find a college or university in the land where you could major in drama before your third year, so she found work as a model. for the John Powers Agency and began taking stage acting lessons at the Theodora Irvine Studio. By 1935, she was one of the highest paid models and by May of that year she had plans to study stage acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the United Kingdom.

The Duration of Marsha Hunt’s Movies at Paramount

Hunt, Robert Taylor, Jean Harlow, and Mitzi Green were among the celebrities invited to Washington, DC, to help fund-raising efforts at the President’s Birthday Ball (1937; Eleanor Roosevelt center)

Born in the West, starring John Wayne (1937)

When watching the trailer of Pride and Prejudice (1940)

In the trailer for Cry ‘Havoc’ (1943)

In Smash-Up, One Woman’s Story with Susan Hayward (1947)

Although initially hesitant to pursue a film career, Hunt signed a seven-year contract with Paramount Pictures in June 1935 when he was just 17 years old. Paramount found him when he was visiting his uncle in Los Angeles and comedian Zeppo Marx (of Marx Brothers fame) saw a photo of him in the newspaper. He was then offered a screen test for The Virginia Judge.

Following the termination of his contract in 1938 by the studio, Hunt spent several years appearing in B-movies produced by low-budget studios such as Republic Pictures and Monogram Pictures. She also traveled to New York City to work in summer stock theater before landing a supporting role in MGM’s These Glamor Girls (1939), starring Lana Turner and Lew Ayres. The role of Betty was rumored to have been written specifically with Hunt in mind.

Times at MGM

While filming Blossoms in the Dust, director Mervyn LeRoy praised Hunt for her heartfelt and heartfelt acting skills. During this period, Hunt had starring roles in 21 films, including The Penalty (1941), in which he starred with Lionel Barrymore, Panama Hattie (1942), with Ann Sothern and Red Skelton, Pilot No. 5 (1943). ), in which she played the love interest of Franchot Tone (1945). She had previously taken part in a screen test for the role of Melanie Hamilton in Gone with the Wind (1939), and David O. Selznick told her that she would play the role, but “keep it for now.” Three days later, it was revealed that Olivia de Havilland had been cast. In 1944, he made an appearance in None Shall Escape, which is now considered the first film about the Holocaust. She played Marja Pacierkowski, the Polish girlfriend of Wilhelm Grimm, a German Nazi officer.

Why is Marsha Hunt Blacklisted in Hollywood?

Hunt received an invitation to join the Screen Actors Guild board in 1945.

Hunt and her husband, screenwriter Robert Presnell Jr., joined the Committee for the First Amendment in 1947 after being outraged by the actions of the House Committee on Unamerican Activities (HCUA). According to NPR, Hunt is the last surviving member of the group in time for his 100th birthday.

At age 30, Hunt participated in Hollywood Fights Back, a star-studded radio program written by her husband on October 26 of the same year to protest HUAC’s actions. In 2020, Hunt recalled:

We gave our speeches, participated in a radio program called Hollywood Fights Back, and went home believing that we had stood up for our country and our line of work. If there are communists among us, they are not among us.

To protest HUAC’s actions, Hunt traveled to Washington the next day with a group of about 30 actors, directors, writers, and filmmakers, including John Huston, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, and Danny Kaye. By the time he returned to Hollywood three days later, things had changed. He was told to come clean about his actions if he wanted to get more work, but he refused.

Along with 151 other actors, writers, and directors, Hunt was identified as a potential Communist or Communist sympathizer in 1950 by the anti-Communist publication Red Channels. The publication claimed that Hunt’s allegedly subversive actions, such as asking the Supreme Court to review the convictions of John Howard Lawson and Dalton Trumbo, recording a message in support of a rally organized of the Stop Censorship Committee in 1939, and speaking in support of

Hunt and Presnell experienced a decline in work following the release of Red Channels in 1950. Hunt said in 2012 that he was “surprised, saddened, and surprised” that journalism could be so rife with prejudice.

The following year, in 1941, Marsha Hunt secured a contract with MGM and spent the next six years acting in 21 of their productions, the most notable of which included The Penalty, Panama Hattie, Pilot No. 5, None Shall Escape, etc.

The Family of Marsha Hunt

Marsha and her husband, Robert Presnell Jr., were disturbed by the actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee and joined the Committee for the First Amendment in 1947 after being invited to join the board of the Screen Actors Guild.

He was asked to stop his activities if he wanted to work in the film industry after he went to Washington with 30 other prominent Hollywood figures to protest HUAC’s actions. He was also on a list of 151 actors, writers, and directors labeled as potential Communists or Communist sympathizers in the anti-Communist publication Red Channels in 1950.

Marsha Hunt claimed that after the release of Red Channels, filmmakers began viewing her and other actors as unhireable and blamed producer Richard J. Collins for blacklisting the actresses. However, he returned in 1957 and appeared in six films before announcing his semi-retirement in 1960.

His book, The Way We Wore: Styles of the 1930s and ’40s and Our World Since Then, was published in 1933. Hunt continued to appear on shows such as Breaking Point, My Three Sons, Gunsmoke, and Star Trek: The Next Generation. He also made appearances in movies like Johnny Got His Gun, Chloe’s Prayer, The Grand Inquisitor, and others.

In addition to being a member of the advisory board of directors of the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center, Marsha founded the San Fernando Valley Mayor’s Fund for the Homeless and produced a one-hour television program on refugee issues in the 1960s.

Marsha Hunt married Robert Presnell Jr. in February 1946 after first divorcing Jerry “Jay” Hopper in 1943. Despite having a daughter in July 1947, who died the following day, Marsha and Robert remained married until the latter’s death in June 1986 .