Sweet are the uses

I can't blame you if you say you don't know the name of Marsha Hunt, an actress who brought a lot to the world in her life, which ended just five weeks short of her 105th birthday. Yes, 104 years, from 1917 - 2022, and that belies the old saw that says "Only the good die young."

They don't come much better than Marsha Hunt, as you can find out if you stream the documentary "Marsha Hunt's Sweet Adversity" on TCM. She wanted to be an actress and got into it by starting out as a Powers Model at age 16 in New York at the height of the Depression. It wasn't long before she found herself in front of movie cameras in Hollywood and launched a film, stage, and radio career that was going quite well before she was blacklisted for daring to be a compassionate person.

If you don't know about that dark age in American history, it was after World War II. Powerful people here decided that "communists" (or "Godless communists") were out to ruin our nation of freedom and independence, so anyone who had ever spoken out in favor of freedom and independence wound up on a list of people who were not to be hired as actors, screenwriters and so forth.

No it didn't make sense but remember, Ronald Reagan was involved...

Whoever wrote about her in the Wikipedia said it best: "In the midst of the blacklist era, she became active in the humanitarian cause of world hunger and in her later years aided homeless shelters, supported same-sex marriage, raised awareness of climate change, and promoted peace in Third World countries."

Quite a woman. She was not content to simply pose for publicity photos for worthwhile causes or have press agents sign her name to releases. She worked and served on committees to help people.

If you watch the documentary, you will feel pretty good about how helpful a person can be when they devote themselves to worthwhile causes. Marsha's acting career was seriously dented by the right-wing maniacs, but she still played roles and wrote songs and performed them right until the end.

Because, to steal another old phrase, you can't keep a good woman down.

https://www.facebook.com/marshahuntdoc