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Martha Hyer

 
Actor: Martha Hyer
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  • Born: Aug 10, 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas
  • Occupation: Actor, Writer
  • Active: '50s-'60s
  • Major Genres: Drama, Comedy
  • Career Highlights: Battle Hymn, The Night of the Grizzly, Bikini Beach
  • First Major Screen Credit: Thunder Mountain (1947)

Biography

The daughter of a Texas judge, Martha Hyer majored in speech and drama at Northwestern University. Her work at the Pasadena Playhouse led to a 1946 contract with RKO. Free from her contract in 1951, Hyer free-lanced in films made both in the U.S. and abroad. She earned an Academy Award nomination for her portrayal of a prim small schoolteacher in Some Came Running (1958), but has also played "hot to trot" roles in films like Pyro (1966) and spoiled-little-rich-girl types in films such as The Happening (1967). The widow of producer Hal B. Wallis, Martha Hyer has set forth her life story in the 1990 autobiography Finding My Way. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
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Wikipedia: Martha Hyer
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Martha Hyer
Born August 10, 1924 (1924-08-10) (age 85)
Fort Worth, Texas,
United States
Occupation Actress
Years active 1946–1974
Spouse(s) Hal B. Wallis (1966-1986) (his death)
C. Ray Stahl (1951-1954) (divorced)

Martha Hyer (born August 10, 1924; Fort Worth, Texas) is an American actress.

Her first movie role was at age eleven when she appeared in Thunder Mountain. After completing her education, she next appeared in The Locket in 1946. She had roles in So Big (1953), Sabrina (1954), The Delicate Delinquent in 1956 (Jerry Lewis' first film without Dean Martin), Houseboat (1958), Ice Palace (1960), Desire in the Dust (1960), The Carpetbaggers (1964), First Men in the Moon (1964), Blood on the Arrow (1964) and The Sons of Katie Elder (1965), among many others. She costarred with Keenan Wynn in Bikini Beach (1964), one of the Beach Party movies with Frankie Avalon and Annette Funicello.

Hyer played the part of "Hannah Haley" in the episode "Incident West of Lano" on the Western television series Rawhide.

Her most significant role came as the love interest of Frank Sinatra in Some Came Running for director Vincente Minnelli in 1958, for which she received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Hyer was one of the actresses considered for the Janet Leigh role of the doomed Marion Crane in the Alfred Hitchcock thriller Psycho.

Her last film was Day of the Wolves in 1973.

A platinum blonde, Hyer married producer Hal B. Wallis in 1966, and the couple remained together until his death in 1986. Her autobiography, Finding My Way: A Hollywood Memoir, was published in 1990.

References

  • Wallis, Martha Hyer. (1990). Finding My Way. New York: HarperCollins. ISBN 0-06-250938-1. 

External links


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