MARTHA HYER BIOGRAPHY & FILMOGRAPHY:
Martha Hyer was born on August 10th, 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas. As a young girl, at only the age of eleven, she was lucky enough to appear in her first movie role in, "Thunder Mountain" (1935). In 1941, she graduated from high school and first attended, Fairfax Hall Junior College for Girls in the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia. She then went on to University at North Western University, majoring in drama and speech. Upon completion, Hyer, became involved in acting on stage. She was working at the Pasadena Playhouse when an talent scout discovered her and gets her a reading at Paramount, however at that time nothing came out of it. She is later on given the chance to read for RKO and they decide to take her on. She received a small role in, "The Locket" (1946) starring Laraine Day, Brian Aherne, Robert Mitchum and Gene Raymond, and from that point on roles began to come her way.
She was a very attractive and beautiful lady and her looks definitely assisted in her getting some more significant roles. In 1951 she was briefly married to C Ray Stahl, but the marriage ended in 1954. As she entered the mid 50's, she began to put more focus onto her professional career and it was during this time that most of her best work was done such as, "Down Three Dark Streets" (1954) starring with Broderick Crawford and Ruth Roman, "Sabrina" (1954) starring Humphrey Bogart, Audrey Hepburn and William Holden, "Showdown at Abilene" (1956) also starring Jock Mahoney, Lyle Bettger, David Janssen and Ted de Corsia, "Battle Hymn" (1957) starring alongside Rock Hudson, Dan Duryea, Alan Hale Jr., Anna Kashfi, Don DeFore and Jock Mahoney, "Houseboat" (1958) starring Cary Grant, Sophia Loren and Paul Peterson and "Some Came Running" (1958) starring Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Shirley MacLaine, Arthur Kennedy and Nancy Gates, which she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
Martha also appeared on several television shows such as "Zane Grey Theatre", The Beverly Hillbillies", "Climax!", "The Public Defender", "Burke's Law", "The Deputy", "The Lone Ranger" and "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" just to name a few.
As she entered into the early 60's, she maintained decent roles on films such as, "Ice Palace" (1960) starring with Richard Burton, Carolyn Jones, Robert Ryan, Ray Danton, Jim Backus and Karl Swenson, "Desire in the Dust" (1960) co-starring Raymond Burr and Joan Bennett, "Bikini Beach" (1964) starring Frankie Avalon, Annette Funicello and Keenan Wynn, "The Carpetbaggers" (1964) starring George Peppard, Alan Ladd, Carroll Baker, Arthur Franz, Audrey Totter, Robert Cummings, Ralph Taeger, Lew Ayres, Tom Tully, Leif Erickson and Martin Balsam and "The Sons of Katie Elder" (1965) starring alongside John Wayne, Dean Martin, Michael Anderson Jr., Earl Holliman, James Gregory, George Kennedy and Dennis Hopper. However, as her career progressed to the late 60's, films in the United States was slowing down. On occasion she would appear in various foreign films, but for the most part, she remained out of the lime light. In 1966 she married a producer, Hal B. Wallis and the couple remained married until he passed away in 1986.
Her final films was, "Day of the Wolves" (1973) also starring Richard Egan, Rick Jason, John Lupton and Jan Murray. She wrote an autobiography titled, Finding My Way: A Hollywood Memoir which was published in 1990. Hyer's spent most of the late 80's in the hospital by her husbands side as he was very ill and suffering from diabetes. Currently, Martha Hyer is eighty six years old and resides in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Filmography
1974 McCloud
1973 Day of the Wolves
1972 O'Hara, U.S. Treasury
1971 The Young Lawyers
1970 The Virginian
1969 Once You Kiss a Stranger...
1969 Crossplot
1969 It Takes a Thief
1968 The Name of the Game
1968 Catch As Catch Can
1967 Family Affair
1967 La mujer de otro
1967 Judd for the Defense
1967 House of 1,000 Dolls
1967 The Happening
1967 Some May Live
1966 Picture Mommy Dead
1966 Cuernavaca en primavera
1966 Due marines e un generale
1966 The Night of the Grizzly
1966 The Chase
1966 The Beverly Hillbillies
1965 Branded
1965 The Sons of Katie Elder
1963-1965 Burke's Law
1964-1965 Kraft Suspense Theatre
1965 Bewitched
1962-1965 The Alfred Hitchcock Hour
1964 The Farmer's Daughter
1964 Blood on the Arrow
1964 First Men in the Moon
1964 Bikini Beach
1964 The Carpetbaggers
1964 The Greatest Show on Earth
1964 Pyro... The Thing Without a Face
1963 Wives and Lovers
1963 The Man from the Diners' Club
1962 A Girl Named Tamiko
1961 The Last Time I Saw Archie
1961 The Right Approach
1961 Route 66
1960 Zane Grey Theatre
1960 Desire in the Dust
1960 Die Herrin der Welt - Teil II
1960 Mistress of the World
1960 The Deputy
1960 Ice Palace
1959 The Best of Everything
1959 The Big Fisherman
1959 Rawhide
1958 Some Came Running
1958 Houseboat
1958 Once Upon a Horse...
1958 Climax!
1958 Paris Holiday
1958 Playhouse 90
1957 My Man Godfrey
1957 The Delicate Delinquent
1957 Kelly and Me
1957 Mister Cory
1957 Battle Hymn
1954-1956 Lux Video Theatre
1956 Showdown at Abilene
1956 Red Sundown
1955 Paris Follies of 1956
1955 Kiss of Fire
1955 Francis in the Navy
1955 The Best of Broadway
1953-1954 Four Star Playhouse
1954 Cry Vengeance
1954 The Public Defender
1954 Sabrina
1954 Down Three Dark Streets
1954 Lucky Me
1954 Wyoming Renegades
1954 The Scarlet Spear
1954 Battle of Rogue River
1954 Riders to the Stars
1953 So Big
1953 Schlitz Playhouse
1953 Abbott and Costello Go to Mars
1953 Fireside Theatre
1952 Your Jeweler's Showcase
1952 Yukon Gold
1952 Geisha Girl
1952 Wild Stallion
1952 Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok
1951 Oriental Evil
1950 The Kangaroo Kid
1950 Frisco Tornado
1950 The Lawless
1950 Salt Lake Raiders
1950 Outcasts of Black Mesa
1950 The Lone Ranger
1949 The Clay Pigeon
1949 The Judge Steps Out
1949 Roughshod
1949 Rustlers
1948 Gun Smugglers
1948 The Velvet Touch
1947 Thunder Mountain
1947 The Woman on the Beach
1947 Born to Kill
1946 The Locket
