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Martita Hunt

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Martita Hunt
inFolly to Be Wise(1953)
Born(1900-01-30)30 January 1900
Buenos Aires,Argentina
Died13 June 1969(1969-06-13)(aged 69)
Hampstead,London, England
OccupationActress
Years active1920–1969

Martita Edith Hunt(30 January 1900 – 13 June 1969) was anArgentine-born British theatre and film actress. She had a dominant stage presence and played a wide range of powerful characters. She is best remembered for her performance asMiss HavishaminDavid Lean'sGreat Expectations(1946).

Early life[edit]

Hunt was born inBuenos Aireson 30 January 1900[1]to English parents Alfred and Marta (née Burnett) Hunt. Aged ten,[2]she travelled with her parents to the United Kingdom, where she attendedQueenwood Ladies' CollegeinEastbourne,and then trained as an actress.[1]

Career[edit]

Early theatrical career[edit]

Hunt began her acting career inrepertory theatreinLiverpoolbefore moving toLondon.She first appeared there in theStage Society's production ofErnst Toller'sThe Machine Wreckersat theKingsway Theatrein May 1923. From 1923 to 1929, she appeared as the Principessa della Cercola inW. Somerset Maugham'sOur Betters(Globe,1924) and as Mrs. Linde inIbsen'sA Doll's House(Playhouse,1925) in theWest End,along with engagements at club theatres such as theQ Theatreand theArts Theatreand a short 1926Chekhovseason at the small Barnes Theatre underTheodore Komisarjevsky(playing Charlotta Ivanovna, inThe Cherry Orchardand Olga inThree Sisters).[citation needed]

In September 1929, she joined theOld Viccompany, then led byHarcourt Williams,and, during the following eight months played Béline inMolière'sThe Imaginary Invalid,Queen Elizabeth inGeorge Bernard Shaw'sThe Dark Lady of the Sonnets,and Lavinia in Shaw'sAndrocles and the Lion.However, her time there was more noted for a succession ofShakespeareanroles: theNurseinRomeo and Juliet,PortiainThe Merchant of Venice,the Queen inRichard II,HelenainA Midsummer Night's Dream,PortiainJulius Caesar),RosalindinAs You Like It,Lady MacbethinMacbeth,andGertrudeinHamlet). The latter three were withJohn Gielgud.

In Hunt's entry in theOxford Dictionary of National Biography,Donald Roy wrote:

"With an arresting appearance and a dominant stage presence, she proved most effective as strong, tragic characters, her Gertrude inHamletbeing accounted by some critics the finest they had seen. "

She then returned to theWest End(briefly returning to the Old Vic to playEmiliain the 1938Othello), notably playing Edith Gunter inDodie Smith'sAutumn Crocus(Lyric,1931), the Countess of Rousillon inAll's Well That Ends Well(Arts, 1932), Lady Strawholme inIvor Novello'sFresh Fields(Criterion,1933), Liz Frobisher inJohn Van Druten'sThe Distaff Side(Apollo,1933), Barbara Dawe inClemence Dane'sMoonlight Is Silver(Queen's,1934), Theodora inElmer Rice'sNot for Children(Fortune,1935), Masha in Chekhov'sThe Seagull(New Theatre,1936), the Mother in an English-language version ofGarcía Lorca'sBodas de sangre( "Marriage of Blood";Savoy,1939), Léonie inJean Cocteau'sLes Parents Terribles(Gate,1940), Mrs Cheveley inOscar Wilde'sAn Ideal Husband(Westminster,1943), and Cornelia inJohn Webster'sThe White Devil(Duchess,1947).

Early film career[edit]

Hunt also appeared in many supporting roles in several popular British films, such asGood Morning, Boys(1937),Trouble Brewing(1939), andThe Man in Grey(1943).The Wicked Lady(1945) was an international success, but her next film role inDavid Lean'sGreat Expectations(1946) would be her most famous and most lauded.[3]AsMiss Havisham,she reprised her role from the 1939 stage adaptation byAlec Guinness,which provided the inspiration and template for Lean's film. Her performance met with significant acclaim, andRoger Ebertlater wrote in 1999 that she "dominate[d] the [film's] early scenes, playing Miss Havisham as a beak-nosed, shabby figure, bedecked in crumbling lace and linen, not undernourished despite her long exile."[4]

Later career[edit]

Hunt acted inThe Sleeping Princein 1953 at thePhoenix Theatre.From this time on, she divided her time between British and American films, as well as the stage. She won aTony Awardin 1949 for herBroadwaydébut as Countess Aurelia in the English-speaking première of Giraudoux'sThe Madwoman of Chaillot(though she had relatively less impact on the production's 1952 tour). Her last stage role was as Angélique Boniface inHotel Paradiso,an adaptation fromFeydeau,again with Guinness at theWinter Garden Theatrein May 1956.[5]

Other films in which she appeared includedAnna Karenina(1948),The Fan(1949),Anastasia(1956),Three Men in a Boat(1956),The Admirable Crichton(1957),The Brides of Dracula(1960),The Wonderful World of the Brothers Grimm(1962),Becket(1964),The Unsinkable Molly Brown(1964) andBunny Lake Is Missing(1965). She also appeared on television as Lady Bastable in several adaptations of theSakistories (1962).[citation needed]

Death[edit]

Martita Hunt died ofbronchial asthmaat her home inHampstead,London, aged 69, on 13 June 1969. Her estate was valued at £5,390. She never married.

She was cremated atGolders Green Crematoriumon 19 June. Her ashes lie in the Ivor Novello Rose Bed.

Selected filmography[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ab"Hunt, Martita (1900–1969)".Oxford Dictionary of National Biography(online ed.). Oxford University Press.doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/67806.(Subscription orUK public library membershiprequired.)
  2. ^The Illustrated Who's Who of the Cinema, ed. Ann Lloyd, Graham Fuller, Arnold Desser, Orbis, 1983, p. 214
  3. ^Martita HuntatIMDb
  4. ^Review ofGreat ExpectationsArchived9 October 2012 at theWayback Machine,Chicago Sun-Times.Retrieved 10 December 2014.
  5. ^Martita Huntat theInternet Broadway Database

Sources[edit]

  • Who Was Who in the Theatre,1912–1976, 2 (1978), pp. 1241–2
  • W. Rigdon,The Biographical Encyclopedia(1966), p. 556
  • D. Quinlan,The Illustrated Directory of Film Character Actors(1985), p. 152
  • S. D'Amico, ed.,Enciclopedia dello spettacolo,11 vols. (Rome, 1954–68)
  • P. Hartnoll, ed.,The Concise Oxford Companion to the Theatre(1972), p. 259
  • The Times(14 June 1969), pp. 1, 10
  • J. Willis, ed.,Theatre World,26 (1970), pp. 268–9
  • F. Gaye, ed.,Who's Who in the Theatre,14th edn (1967), pp. 769–70
  • E. M. Truitt,Who Was Who on Screen,3rd edn (1983), 360
  • The Guardian(14 June 1969), p. 5
  • R. May,A Companion to the Theatre(1973), p. 110
  • J.-L. Passek, ed.,Dictionnaire du cinéma(1991), p. 334

External links[edit]

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