Marsha Hunt actress

She seemed well on her way to stardom until her career was derailed by the Hollywood blacklist. She then turned her attention to social causes.

In the aftermath of the blacklist, however, she began working frequently on television, appearing on “The Twilight Zone,” “Gunsmoke,” “Ben Casey” and other shows. She signed with Paramount and made her screen debut that year in a quickly forgotten film called “The Virginia Judge.” She wrote and produced “A Call From the Stars,” a 1960 television documentary about the plight of refugees. At the time, Jack Gould of The New York Times called her “an actress of striking and mellow beauty who also was at home with the verse and couplets of Shakespeare.” Her star turn in a 1950 revival of George Bernard Shaw’s “Devil’s Disciple,” the second of her six appearances on Broadway, had been the subject of a cover article in Life magazine. She became an active supporter of the United Nations, delivering lectures on behalf of the World Health Organization and other U.N. By then, she had won praise for her portrayal of Viola in a live telecast of “Twelfth Night” in 1949. In later years, she was a familiar face on television, playing character roles on “Matlock,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Star Trek: The Next Generation” and other shows. And although she was never a member of the Communist Party — her only apparent misdeed, besides going to Washington, was signing petitions to support causes related to civil liberties — producers began eyeing her with suspicion. Hunt and her husband, the screenwriter Robert Presnell Jr., took a yearlong trip around the world. Their mission was to observe and protest the actions of the House Un-American Activities Committee, which was investigating what it said was Communist infiltration of the film industry. She starred in “Pride and Prejudice” alongside Greer Garson and Laurence Olivier in 1940, and in “The Human Comedy” with Mickey Rooney in 1943. Hunt’s problems began in October 1947, when she traveled to Washington along with cinematic luminaries like John Huston, Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall as part of a group called the Committee for the First Amendment.

Marsha Hunt, a Golden Age star of film, radio and Broadway who later protested against the infamous House Un-American Activities Committee, has died.

A documentary film on her life, Marsha Hunt’s Sweet Adversity: A Life of Acting and Activism was released in 2015. In my teen years, I thought I was born to act, but when my acting career was interrupted, I discovered a wonderful world of challenges, which became opportunities, opening up my life far beyond acting.” Hunt said. She also served on the advisory board of directors for the San Fernando Valley Community Mental Health Center, raised funds for a daycare shelter for homeless children and was named honorary mayor of Sherman Oaks, California, in 1983. She was passionate beyond compare and her work both on and off screen will stand the test of time.” Hunt, a former member of the Screen Actors Guild’s board of directors who joined the guild in 1938, received SAG-AFTRA’s Founders Award in 2018. Red Channels accused Hunt’s membership in the Committee for the First Amendment, which included Humphrey Bogart and Lauren Bacall.

Marsha Hunt was known for her roles in 'These Glamour Girls' and 'Pride and Prejudice,' along with her activism against anti-communism in the entertainment ...

Although she was essentially shut out of Hollywood following those events, she leaned harder into her activism efforts in her later years, supporting the United Nations and delivering lectures for the World Health Organization. Her name was included in an influential Hollywood pamphlet called “Red Channels,” which contained names of entertainment figures who were suspected to be communists or communist sympathizers. [Marsha Hunt](https://variety.com/t/marsha-hunt/), an actress most known for her roles in films like “Pride and Prejudice” and “Raw Deal,” died from natural causes at the age of 104 on September 7.

Actress Marsha Hunt, known for her roles in films including "Pride and Prejudice," as well as for her activism during the 1940s, has died. She was 104.

She also worked to combat homelessness in the Los Angeles area. In 1955, she traveled the world with her second husband, Robert Presnells Jr. Born in Chicago on Oct. and turned her focus to activism, actively supporting the United Nations and writing and producing "A Call From the Star," a television documentary about refugees. [Humphrey Bogart](https://www.upi.com/topic/Humphrey_Bogart/), [Lauren Bacall](https://www.upi.com/topic/Lauren_Bacall/) and [John Huston](https://www.upi.com/topic/John_Huston/), who traveled to Washington, D.C., in October 1947 to protest the imprisonment of writers, directors and producers who refused to reveal their political allegiances to the House Un-American Activities Committee, [the Washington Post reported](https://www.washingtonpost.com/obituaries/2022/09/10/marsha-hunt-actress-blacklist-dead/). In 1950, her name appeared in "Red Channels," an anti-Communist paper that aimed to expose communists and communist sympathizers influencing the entertainment industry.

Marsha Hunt, one of the last surviving actors from Hollywood's Golden Age of the 1930s and 1940s, has...

"In the last 45 years, I've made eight. Police were sent to guard her home. She was well under 40 when MGM named her Hollywood's Youngest Character Actress.