Martha Hyer

Martha Hyer Headshot

Actress

Birth Date: August 10, 1924

Death Date: May 31, 2014

Birth Place: Fort Worth, Texas

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 classic 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.

Credits

Rooster CogburnStream

Screenwriter
Movie
1975
45%

The Day of the Wolves

Actor
Maggie Anderson
Movie
1973

Ladies of Crime

Actor
Movie
1971

McCloudStream

Guest Star
Peggy Hamilton
Series
1970

Men From Shiloh

Guest Star
Amalia Clark
Show
1970

Crossplot

Actor
Jo Grinling
Movie
1969

Once You Kiss a Stranger

Actor
Lee
Movie
1969

The Name of the Game

Guest Star
Series
1968

Catch as Catch Can

Actor
Luisa Chiaramonte
Movie
1968

Ordeal

Actor
Billie Ramsey
Movie
1968

The Happening

Actor
Monica
Movie
1967

House of 1,000 DollsStream

Actor
Rebecca
Movie
1967

Some May Live

Actor
Kate Meredith
Movie
1967

Family AffairStream

Guest Star
Series
1966

The Night of the GrizzlyStream

Actor
Angela Cole
Movie
1966

The Chase

Actor
Mary Fuller
Movie
1966

Picture Mommy Dead

Actor
Francene Shelley
Movie
1966

In Saigon: Some May Live

Actor
Kate Meredith
Movie
1966

Due marines e un generale

Actor
Movie
1965

The Sons of Katie ElderStream

Actor
Mary Gordon
Movie
1965
100%

Cuernavaca en Primavera

Actor
Movie
1965

BewitchedStream

Guest Star
Margaret Marshall
Series
1964

Bikini BeachStream

Actor
Vivien Clements
Movie
1964

First Men in the Moon

Actor
Katherine "Kate" Callender
Movie
1964

The Carpetbaggers

Actor
Jennie Denton
Movie
1964

Pyro

Actor
Laura Blanco
Movie
1964

Blood on the Arrow

Actor
Nancy Mailer
Movie
1964

The Farmer's Daughter

Guest Star
Doris Larsen
Series
1963

The Man From the Diner's Club

Actor
Lucy
Movie
1963

Wives and Lovers

Actor
Lucinda Ford
Movie
1963

The Beverly HillbilliesStream

Guest Star
Series
1962

Alfred Hitchcock HourStream

Actor
Series
1962

A Girl Named Tamiko

Actor
Fay Wilson
Movie
1962

The Last Time I Saw Archie

Actor
Peggy Kramer
Movie
1961

The Right Approach

Actor
Anne Perry
Movie
1961

Route 66Stream

Guest Star
Series
1960

Ice Palace

Actor
Dorothy Wendt Kennedy
Movie
1960

Desire in the Dust

Actor
Melinda Marquand
Movie
1960

The DeputyStream

Guest Star
Series
1959

RawhideStream

Guest Star
Series
1959

The Big Fisherman

Actor
Herodias
Movie
1959

Mistress of the World

Actor
Karin Johansson
Movie
1959

HouseboatStream

Actor
Carolyn Gibson
Movie
1958
64%

Once Upon a Horse

Actor
Miss Amity Babb
Movie
1958

Some Came RunningStream

Actor
Gwen French
Movie
1958
75%

The Delicate Delinquent

Actor
Martha Henshaw
Movie
1957

My Man Godfrey

Actor
Cordelia Bullock
Movie
1957

Kelly and Me

Actor
Lucy Castle
Movie
1957

Mister Cory

Actor
Abby Vollard
Movie
1957

Battle Hymn

Actor
Mary Hess
Movie
1957

L'Extravagant M. Cory

Actor
Movie
1957

Zane Grey Theater

Actor
Series
1956

Crveni suton

Actor
Movie
1956

Red Sundown

Actor
Caroline Murphy
Movie
1956

Showdown at Abilene

Actor
Peggy Bigelow
Movie
1956

Wyoming RenegadesStream

Actor
Nancy Warren
Movie
1955

Kiss of Fire

Actor
Felicia
Movie
1955

Francis in the Navy

Actor
Betsy Donevan
Movie
1955

Paris Follies of 1956

Actor
Ruth Harmon
Movie
1955

Climax!

Actor
Series
1954

Lucky Me

Actor
Lorraine Thayer
Movie
1954

SabrinaStream

Actor
Elizabeth Tyson
Movie
1954
94%

Cry Vengeance

Actor
Peggy Harding
Movie
1954

Down Three Dark Streets

Actor
Connie Anderson
Movie
1954

Battle of Rogue River

Actor
Brett McClain
Movie
1954

Riders to the Stars

Actor
Dr. Jane Flynn
Movie
1954

The Scarlet Spear

Actor
Christine
Movie
1954

So Big

Actor
Paula Hempel
Movie
1953

Abbott and Costello Go to Mars

Actor
Janie Howe
Movie
1953

Yukon Gold

Actor
Marie Briand
Movie
1952

Wild Stallion

Actor
Caroline Cullen
Movie
1952

Geisha Girl

Actor
Peggy Burns
Movie
1952

Oriental Evil

Actor
Cheryl Banning
Movie
1951

Frisco Tornado

Actor
Jean Martin
Movie
1950

The Lone RangerStream

Guest Star
Molly
Series
1949

The Judge Steps Out

Actor
Catherine Bailey Struthers III
Movie
1949

The Clay Pigeon

Actor
Miss Harwick
Movie
1949

Roughshod

Actor
Marcia
Movie
1949

The Rustlers

Actor
Ruth Abbott
Movie
1949

The Velvet Touch

Actor
Helen Adams
Movie
1948

Gun Smugglers

Actor
Judy Davis
Movie
1948

Born to KillStream

Actor
Maid
Movie
1947
83%

Thunder Mountain

Actor
Ellie Jorth
Movie
1947