MARSHA HUNT BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
 
Marsha Hunt was born on October 17th, 1917 in Chicago, Illinois with the middle name Virginia.  As a young girl, her parents moved to New York where she was raised and received her early years education.
 
From the young age of three, Hunt already enjoyed performing and was developing an interest in acting.  After high school she began doing modeling work with John Powers modeling agency and was also given the chance to sing on the radio.

Hunt later studied drama at Theodora Irvine Drama School and then decided it was time to relocate to Hollywood and see if she could break into the entertainment industry there.  At the young age of seventeen Paramount Studio's showed an interest in her and soon she was appearing in such feature films as, "The Virginia Judge" (1935) with Walter C. Kelly, Stepin Fetchit and Johnny Downs, "Gentle Julia" (1936) with Jane Withers, Tom Brown and Jackie Searl, "Desert Gold" (1936) starring Larry 'Buster' Crabbe, Robert Cummings, Tom Keene, Leif Erickson, Monte Blue, Frank Mayo, Raymond Hatton and Walter Miller, "Thunder Trail" (1937) starring Charles Bickford, Monte Blue, James Craig, Clayton Moore, J. Carrol Naish Gilbert Roland and "Born to the West" (1937) aka "Hell Town" starring John Wayne, Johnny Mack Brown, Monte Blue, Lucien Littlefield, Nick Lukats and John Patterson.
 
Hunt then ended her association with Paramount and moved over to MGM studios in 1939.  During this time period she appeared on such features as, "Pride and Prejudice" (1940) co-starring Laurence Olivier, Greer Garson, Edna May Oliver, Edmund Gween, Mary Boland, Maureen Sullivan, Frieda Inescort, Ann Rutherford, Melville Cooper and Heather Angel, "Flight Command" (1940) starring alongside Robert Taylor, Ruth Hussey, Walter Pidgeon, Red Skelton, Nat Pendleton, Paul Kelly and Shepperd Strudwick, "Blossoms in the Dust" (1941) co-starring Greer Garson, Walter Pidgeon, Felix Bressart, Marsha Hunt, Henry O'Neill, William Henry and Fay Holden, "Cheers for Miss Bishop" (1941) starring Martha Scott, William Gargan, Edmund Gwenn, Sterling Holloway, Dorothy Peterson, Don Douglas, Sidney Blackmer and Rosemary DeCamp, "Kid Glove Killer" (1942) starring with Van Heflin, Lee Bowman, Cathy Lewis, Jeff York, John Litel and Samuel S. Hinds, "The Affairs of Martha" (1942) co-starring Richard Carlson, Allyn Joslyn, Marjorie Main, Barry Nelson, Frances Drake, Margaret Hamilton, Melville Cooper, Virginia Weidler and Spring Byington, "The Human Comedy" (1943) starring Mickey Rooney, Fay Bainter, Ray Collins, James Craig, Don DeFore, Darryl Hickman, Van Johnson, Robert Mitchum, Frank Morgan, Barry Nelson, Henry O'Neill and Donna Reed, "Lost Angel" (1943) co-starring James Craig, Margaret O'Brien, Philip Merivale, Henry O'Neill, Donald Meek, Keenan Wynn, Alan Napier, Sara Haden, Elisabeth Risdon, Robert Blake and Kathleen Lockhart, "The Valley of Decision" (1945) also starring Greer Garson, Gregory Peck, Donald Crisp, Lionel Barrymore, Preston Foster, Gladys Cooper, Reginald Owen, Dan Duryea, Jessica Tandy, Barbara Everest and Marshall Thompson and "Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman" (1947) starring Susan Hayward, Lee Bowman, Carl Esmond and Eddie Albert.
 
As her career progressed, although she remained working, Hunt was unable to ever reach the level of star status she hoped to achieve.  Some of her other more decent film roles were, "Take One False Step" (1949) with William Powell, Shelley Winters, James Gleason, Sheldon Leonard, Art Baker and Paul Harvey, "No Place to Hide" (1956) with David Brian and Hugh Corcoran, "Bomber B-52" (1957) co-starring Natalie Wood, Karl Malden, Nelson Leigh, Efrem Zimbalist Jr. and Ray Montgomery, "Blue Denim" (1959) starring Carol Lynley, Brandon de Wilde, Warren Berlinger, Vaughn Taylor, Macdonald Carey, Roberta Shore, Malcolm Atterbury and William Schallert and "Johnny Got His Gun" (1971) starring Timothy Bottoms, Jason Robards, Donald Sutherland, Diane Varsi, Charles McGraw, Kathy Fields and Don 'Red' Barry.
 
Hunt turned to stage work for a while appearing in a variety of productions such as, "Joy to the World", "The Devil's Disciple", "The Lady's Not for Burning", "The Little Hut", "The King and I", "State Fair" and "Meet Me in St. Louis".
 
In addition to film and stage she made occasional television appearances on such shows as, "Climax!", "Ironside", "Matlock", "Murder, She Wrote", "Run for Your Life", "The Outsiders", "The Defenders", "Twilight Zone", "Police Story", "Zane Grey Theatre", "Breaking Point" and "Medical Story".

Although Hunt still found work as an actress she and her husband were on the blacklist in Hollywood for a period of time due to her membership in the Committee for the First Amendment and for liberal petitions she signed.
 
Marsha Hunt has married twice, first in 1938 to Jerry Hopper and this marriage lasted until 1945.  She then wed Robert Presnell Jr. in 1946 and they had one child who passed away at only one day old.  They remained married until he passed away in June 1986.

In addition to her career as an actress in 1983 she became an Honorary Mayor of Sherman oaks, California and remains serving as an advisor for the San Fernando Valley Community mental Health center.  Most recently she appeared in the film, "Chloe's Prayer" in 2006.   She remains also as a supporter for UNICEF, March of Dimes and the American Red Cross. 

Filmography

2008         Empire State Building Murders
2008         The Grand Inquisitor 
2006         Chloe's Prayer
1996         Blacklist: Hollywood on Trial
1988         Star Trek: The Next Generation
1986         Matlock
1985         Murder, She Wrote
1985         Shadow Chasers
1983         The Mississippi 
1981         Terror Among Us 
1974-1975     Police Story
1975         Medical Story 
1975         Harry O
1972         Jigsaw 
1971         Johnny Got His Gun
1970-1971     Ironside 
1970         The Young Lawyers 
1970         Marcus Welby, M.D. 
1969         The Name of the Game
1969         Fear No Evil
1969         Heads
1968         The Outsider
1967         Accidental Family
1967         My Three Sons
1966         Run for Your Life 
1965         Ben Casey
1964         Profiles in Courage
1964         The Defenders
1964         Twilight Zone 
1964         The Outer Limits 
1964         Channing 
1964         Gunsmoke
1963         Breaking Point 
1962         Sam Benedict
1962         Cain's Hundred
1961         The Americans 
1957-1960     Zane Grey Theatre
1960         The Plunderers
1960         The Detectives
1959         Laramie
1959         Peck's Bad Girl 
1959         Blue Denim
1959         The Grand Jury
1958         Alfred Hitchcock Presents
1957-1958     Climax!
1958         Panic!
1957         Legend of the Lost
1957         Bombers B-52
1957         Back from the Dead
1957         The 20th Century-Fox Hour
1956         No Place to Hide
1955         A Word to the Wives... 
1954         Diplomatic Passport
1953         The Ford Television Theatre 
1952         The Happy Time
1952         Actor's and Sin
1951         Cosmopolitan Theatre 
1951         Sure As Fate 
1950         Danger 
1949-1950     Studio One in Hollywood
1949         The Silver Theatre 
1949         The Ford Theatre Hour
1949         Mary Ryan, Detective
1949         Take One False Step
1949         The Philco-Goodyear Television Playhouse
1949         Jigsaw
1948         Raw Deal
1948         The Inside Story
1947         Smash-Up: The Story of a Woman
1947         Carnegie Hall
1946         A Letter for Evie
1945         The Valley of Decision
1944         Music for Millions
1944         Bride by Mistake
1944         None Shall Escape
1943         Lost Angel
1943         Cry 'Havoc'
1943         Pilot #5
1943         The Human Comedy
1942         Seven Sweethearts
1942         Panama Hattie
1942         The Affairs of Martha
1942         Kid Glove Killer
1942         Joe Smith, American
1941         Unholy Partners
1941         Blossoms in the Dust
1941         I'll Wait for You
1941         The Penalty
1941         Cheers for Miss Bishop
1941         The Trial of Mary Dugan
1940         Flight Command
1940         Ellery Queen, Master Detective
1940         Pride and Prejudice
1940         Women in Hiding
1940         Irene
1939         Joe and Ethel Turp Call on the President
1939         These Glamour Girls
1939         Winter Carnival
1939         The Hardys Ride High
1939         Star Reporter
1939         Long Shot
1938         Come On, Leathernecks!
1937         Born to the West
1937         Thunder Trail
1937         Annapolis Salute
1937         Easy Living
1937         Murder Goes to College
1936         College Holiday
1936         The Accusing Finger
1936         Easy to Take
1936         Hollywood Boulevard
1936         The Arizona Raiders
1936         Gentle Julia
1936         Desert Gold
1935         The Virginia Judge