Her father, Donald Cole, was a consulting engineer, and died in 1926
when Kim was only three years old. Her mother, Grace Lind, once performed
as a concert pianist. She had one brother who was eight years older
than she, and she was educated at Miami Beach High.
According to an in-depth article on Kim Hunter by
Joseph Collura in the October 2009 issue
of "Classic Images", Kim was quiet and painfully shy as a child and
overcame it through the guidance of a local dramatics teacher, a Mrs.
Carmine. Included were diction, voice and posture lessons.
She studied at the Actors Studio and her first professional appearance
was as "Penny" in "Penny Wise" in Miami in November 1939. Then, she
joined a repertory group called "Theatre of Fifteen", but it disbanded
in 1942 when WWII took away most of its male members.
She made her Broadway debut performance as "Stella" in "A Streetcar
Named Desire" at the
Ethel Barrymore
Theatre, New York, in December 1947 that was the 1947-1948 season's
success and for which she won the Critics Circle and Donaldson awards.
A one-time student of the Pasadena Playhouse, she was appearing in the
1942 production of "Arsenic and Old Lace" when she was discovered by an
RKO talent hunter who signed her to a seven-year contract for
David O. Selznick's company. Selznick
suggested she change her first name to "Kim" and a RKO secretary
suggested the last name of "Hunter". A few years later,
Irene Mayer Selznick, David's
ex-wife by then, recommended Kim for her reprise role of "Stella" in
A Streetcar Named Desire (1951),
for which she won an Oscar.
The Education of Max Bickford(2001)as Adelle Aldrich
Here's to Life!(2000)as Nelly Ormond
The Hiding Place(2000)as Muriel
Out of the Cold(1999)as Elsa Lindepu
Blue Moon(1999)as Sheila Keating
Gunsmoke(1955)
The Seventh Victim(1943)
American Masters(1985)as Self, Self - Actress, Stella
Broadway: The Golden Age, by the Legends Who Were There(2003)as Self
9th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards(2003)as Self - In Memoriam
Living Famously(2002)as Self
Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration(2001)as Self
Broadway: Beyond the Golden Age(2021)as Self
Movie Night Extravaganza(2021)as Self
Truman & Tennessee: An Intimate Conversation(2020)as Stella
Making Apes: The Artists Who Changed Film(2019)as Self
WatchMojo(2006)as Self - Zira
