Marsha Hunt 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.
Hunt’s parents wanted her to pursue a college degree, but Hunt, unable to “locate a single college or university in the land where you could major in drama before your third year, found work modeling for the John Powers Agency and began taking stage acting classes at the Theodora Irvine Studio.
She was one of the highest-earning models by 1935.In May 1935, she planned on studying stage acting at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in the United Kingdom.
Marsha Hunt children: What happened to her premature daughter?
Hunt was pregnant and very sick while filming Carnegie Hall. Her only biological child, a premature daughter, was born on July 1, 1947, and died the next day.
She and her second husband later became foster parents. They remained together until his death on June 14, 1986, at age 71.
Hunt’s family moved to New York City when she was young, and she began performing in school plays and church functions. She graduated from the Horace Mann High School for Girls in 1934 at age 16.
