Although never a marquee name, Hunter amassed her share of starry credits: DEADLINE U.S.A. opposite Humphrey Bogart; STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN (a.k.a. A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH), the acclaimed British war drama with David Niven; and, of course, STREETCAR and the APES franchise.
STREETCAR's Stella Kowalski was a role Hunter originated on Broadway in 1947. She moved onto the 1951 film version along with Brando and Karl Malden. In addition to being old play mates, the three were alums of New York's famed Actors' Studio. (Another famed Studio grad, Rod Steiger, died in July.) Hunter's portrayal of a Stella, a tormented woman in love with a tormented lunk of a guy, earned her the Best Supporting Actress Academy Award. She shared Oscar gold with costars Malden (tapped Best Supporting Actor) and Vivien Leigh (named Best Actress for her diva turn as Blanche DuBois). The only STREETCAR star to not claim an Oscar was, notably, Brando.
Oscar or no (at least on that night), Brando became a first-rate star. Oscar or no, Hunter didn't. Her career stalled in the Red Scare 1950s when she fell under the shadow of the blacklist. A pamphlet that tracked supposedly Commie-friendly talent for the Hollywood studios listed Hunter as a sympathizer. While she continued to work, she did so mainly on TV, where she appeared on "Playhouse 90" and other live anthology dramas of the day.
As the blacklist faded in the 1960s, Hunter reemerged (albeit, buried under piles of latex makeup and glued-on hair) in the original PLANET OF THE APES. In that 1968 sci-fi classic, Hunter shuffled, twitched her nose and bussed Charlton Heston as the chimp psychiatrist who reigned as one of the lone voices of reason in the world-upside-down madhouse. While her charming portrayal didn't bring her more award-show hardware, it did earn her a franchise. Hunter went on to play Zira in 1970's BENEATH THE PLANET OF THE APES and 1971's funny/tragic ESCAPE FROM THE PLANET OF THE APES. Through it all, she was joined by her ape mate, Roddy McDowall as Zira's husband, Cornelius.
"While STREETCAR is a classic, and A MATTER OF LIFE AND DEATH is a classic, those ape films have become a cult in their own right," Hunter told the BBC in the late 1990s. "People from all over the world write to me about those films."
In the 1970s, Hunter appeared regularly in prime-time and did a stint on a soap, "The Edge of Night," earning a Daytime Emmy nomination in 1980. (She returned to daytime drama in 1997, appearing on "As the World Turns.")
Hunter married twice. Her second marriage, to Robert Emmett, head writer for the 1960's "Saturday Night Live" precursor "That Was the Week That Was," endured from 1951 to his death in 2000. Survivors include two children -- a daughter from her first marriage and a son by Emmett.
Supporting Actress 1951: A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE
1 nomination, 1 Award