Martha Hyer
Martha Hyer was an actress during the golden age of cinema, starring in over 70 films between 1946 and 1971 alongside some of the true greats of Hollywood including Frank Sinatra, Audrey Hepburn, John Wayne, and Cary Grant. The daughter of a prominent judge, Hyer studied speech and drama at Northwestern University in Illinois. She moved to California, first working as a stage actress before signing with RKO. Her first screen role was an uncredited appearance in "The Locket" (1946) followed by a run of smaller roles before making her TV debut in 1950 on "The Lone Ranger" (ABC, 1949-1957). By 1951's "Oriental Evil" she was playing the lead; she also met her husband, producer/writer/director C. Ray Stahl, while filming in Japan. After making two more films together, "Geisha Girl" (1952) and "The Scarlet Spear" (1954), the couple divorced. Now a popular actress on TV and the big screen, Hyer co-starred in the clasic romantic comedy "Sabrina" (1954) alongside Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart; "Houseboat" (1958) with Grant and Sophia Loren; and opposite Frank Sinatra in "Some Came Running" (1958), which saw Hyer nominated for Best Actress in a Supporting Role at the 1959 Academy Awards. Hyer was reportedly almost cast as Marion Crane in Alfred Hitchcock's "Psycho" (1960) before losing the role to Janet Leigh; however, she did appear twice on the director's anthology series "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (NBC 1962-65), including a starring role on the show's first episode. She continued to feature on the big screen in the likes of soapy romance "The Carpetbaggers" (1964), alongside low-budget features such as "Pyro" (1964) and "Bikini Beach" (1964). In 1966, she married producer Hal Wallis and scaled back on her acting commitments; her final film was "The Day of the Wolves" (1971), while her last TV appearance was a guest spot on the police series "McCloud" (NBC 1970-77) in 1974. Despite being retired, Hyer continued to live a lavish lifestyle, and unbeknownst to Wallis got herself into debt with loan sharks to cover her many expenses. She recounted this story and many others in her autobiography Finding My Way: A Hollywood Memoir in 1990. Martha Hyer died in 2014 at the age of 89.
Photos
Martha Hyer
Filmography
Movies
Credit | |||||
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45% |
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Rooster Cogburn | Screenwriter | - | 1975 |
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The Day of the Wolves | Maggie Anderson (Character) | - | 1973 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ladies of Crime | Unknown (Character) | - | 1971 |
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Once You Kiss a Stranger | Lee (Character) | - | 1969 |
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Crossplot | Jo Grinling (Character) | - | 1969 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Catch as Catch Can | Luisa Chiaramonte (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Ordeal | Billie Ramsey (Character) | - | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Some May Live | Kate Meredith (Character) | - | 1967 |
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The Happening | Monica (Character) | - | 1967 |
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House of 1,000 Dolls | Rebecca (Character) | - | 1967 |
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The Night of the Grizzly | Angela Cole (Character) | - | 1966 |
80% |
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The Chase | Mary Fuller (Character) | - | 1966 |
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Picture Mommy Dead | Francene Shelley (Character) | - | 1966 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | In Saigon: Some May Live | Kate Meredith (Character) | - | 1966 |
100% |
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The Sons of Katie Elder | Mary Gordon (Character) | - | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Blood on the Arrow | Nancy Mailer (Character) | - | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Pyro | Laura Blanco (Character) | - | 1964 |
63% |
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First Men in the Moon | Katherine "Kate" Callender (Character) | - | 1964 |
40% |
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Bikini Beach | Vivien Clements (Character) | - | 1964 |
33% |
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The Carpetbaggers | Jennie Denton (Character) | - | 1964 |
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The Man From the Diner's Club | Lucy (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wives and Lovers | Lucinda Ford (Character) | - | 1963 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | A Girl Named Tamiko | Fay Wilson (Character) | - | 1962 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Last Time I Saw Archie | Peggy Kramer (Character) | - | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Right Approach | Anne Perry (Character) | - | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Desire in the Dust | Melinda Marquand (Character) | - | 1960 |
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Ice Palace | Dorothy Wendt Kennedy (Character) | - | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mistress of the World | Karin Johansson (Character) | - | 1959 |
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The Big Fisherman | Herodias (Character) | - | 1959 |
78% |
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Some Came Running | Gwen French (Character) | - | 1958 |
64% |
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Houseboat | Carolyn Gibson (Character) | - | 1958 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Once Upon a Horse | Miss Amity Babb (Character) | - | 1958 |
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The Delicate Delinquent | Martha Henshaw (Character) | - | 1957 |
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Battle Hymn | Mary Hess (Character) | - | 1957 |
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My Man Godfrey | Cordelia Bullock (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Mister Cory | Abby Vollard (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Kelly and Me | Lucy Castle (Character) | - | 1957 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Showdown at Abilene | Peggy Bigelow (Character) | - | 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Red Sundown | Caroline Murphy (Character) | - | 1956 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Paris Follies of 1956 | Ruth Harmon (Character) | - | 1955 |
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Wyoming Renegades | Nancy Warren (Character) | - | 1955 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Kiss of Fire | Felicia (Character) | - | 1955 |
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Francis in the Navy | Betsy Donevan (Character) | - | 1955 |
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Cry Vengeance | Peggy Harding (Character) | - | 1954 |
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Down Three Dark Streets | Connie Anderson (Character) | - | 1954 |
89% |
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Sabrina | Elizabeth Tyson (Character) | - | 1954 |
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Lucky Me | Lorraine Thayer (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Battle of Rogue River | Brett McClain (Character) | - | 1954 |
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Riders to the Stars | Dr. Jane Flynn (Character) | - | 1954 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Scarlet Spear | Christine (Character) | - | 1954 |
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So Big | Paula Hempel (Character) | - | 1953 |
33% |
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Abbott and Costello Go to Mars | Janie Howe (Character) | - | 1953 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Wild Stallion | Caroline Cullen (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Geisha Girl | Peggy Burns (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Yukon Gold | Marie Briand (Character) | - | 1952 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Oriental Evil | Cheryl Banning (Character) | - | 1951 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Frisco Tornado | Jean Martin (Character) | - | 1950 |
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Roughshod | Marcia (Character) | - | 1949 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Judge Steps Out | Catherine Bailey Struthers III (Character) | - | 1949 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Rustlers | Ruth Abbott (Character) | - | 1949 |
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The Clay Pigeon | Miss Harwick (Character) | - | 1949 |
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The Velvet Touch | Helen Adams (Character) | - | 1948 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Gun Smugglers | Judy Davis (Character) | - | 1948 |
83% |
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Born to Kill | Maid (Character) | - | 1947 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Thunder Mountain | Ellie Jorth (Character) | - | 1947 |
TV
Credit | ||||
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No Score Yet | No Score Yet | McCloud | Peggy Hamilton (Guest Star) | 1974 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Virginian | Amalia Clark (Guest Star) | 1970 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Name of the Game | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1968 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Family Affair | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1967 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Beverly Hillbillies | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1966 |
No Score Yet | 48% | Bewitched | Margaret Marshall (Guest Star) | 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Alfred Hitchcock Hour | Unknown (Character) | 1962 1965 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Farmer's Daughter | Doris Larsen (Guest Star) | 1964 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Route 66 | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1961 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Zane Grey Theatre | Unknown (Character) | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Deputy | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1960 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Rawhide | Unknown (Guest Star) | 1959 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | Climax! | Unknown (Character) | 1958 |
No Score Yet | No Score Yet | The Lone Ranger | Molly (Guest Star) | 1950 |