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Jimmy Hunt, Young Star of 'Invaders From Mars,' Dies at 85
Hat tip, another site. I just watched this movie earlier this month on “Svengoolie.”
Jimmy Hunt, Young Star of ‘Invaders From Mars,’ Dies at 85
From 1945-53, he appeared in 35 films, and his onscreen parents included Dick Powell, Teresa Wright, Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal, Leif Erickson and Claudette Colbert.
BY MIKE BARNES
JULY 21, 2025 12:27PM
Jimmy Hunt in 1953's 'Invaders From Mars.' 20TH CENTURY FOX FILM CORP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION
Jimmy Hunt, the freckle-faced youngster who appeared in Pitfall, Sorry, Wrong Number, Cheaper by the Dozen, Invaders From Mars and 31 other features before he retired from acting at age 14, has died. He was 85. … Hunt suffered a heart attack six weeks ago and died Friday in a hospital in Simi Valley, his daughter-in-law Alisa Hunt told The Hollywood Reporter.
Hunt played William Gilbreth, one of the 12 offspring of an efficiency expert (Clifton Webb) and a psychologist (Myrna Loy), in Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), then returned to play another son in the family, Fred, in the sequel, Belles on the Toes (1952). … As an orphan, his character fueled the plot in The Mating of Millie (1948), a charming romantic comedy starring Evelyn Keyes and Glenn Ford, who taught him how to shoot marbles on the set. And in The Lone Hand (1953), Hunt portrayed the son of a widowed farmer (Joel McCrea) and served as the film’s narrator in what he said was one of his favorite acting experiences.
{snip}
His most memorable role, however, came as David MacLean in the cult sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars (1953), directed by famed production designer William Cameron Menzies. … In the movie — made in about 3 1/2 weeks for less than $300,000 — David spies a flying saucer from his bedroom and notices his dad (Leif Erickson) acting weird. Then he’s sucked underground, where he encounters a Martian and his green humanoid accomplices aboard the saucer. But was it all a dream? Gee whiz!
In Tobe Hooper’s 1986 remake of Invaders, Hunt came out of retirement to play a police chief. As he approaches a hill where the flying saucer may have landed, he says, “I haven’t been here for 40 years.” … It was the only movie of his career for which he received residuals. “Every once in a while, the Screen Actors Guild sends me a check for like nine dollars,” he said with a chuckle in 2022.
{snip}
From 1945-53, he appeared in 35 films, and his onscreen parents included Dick Powell, Teresa Wright, Ronald Reagan, Patricia Neal, Leif Erickson and Claudette Colbert.
BY MIKE BARNES
JULY 21, 2025 12:27PM
Jimmy Hunt in 1953's 'Invaders From Mars.' 20TH CENTURY FOX FILM CORP. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED/COURTESY EVERETT COLLECTION
Jimmy Hunt, the freckle-faced youngster who appeared in Pitfall, Sorry, Wrong Number, Cheaper by the Dozen, Invaders From Mars and 31 other features before he retired from acting at age 14, has died. He was 85. … Hunt suffered a heart attack six weeks ago and died Friday in a hospital in Simi Valley, his daughter-in-law Alisa Hunt told The Hollywood Reporter.
Hunt played William Gilbreth, one of the 12 offspring of an efficiency expert (Clifton Webb) and a psychologist (Myrna Loy), in Cheaper by the Dozen (1950), then returned to play another son in the family, Fred, in the sequel, Belles on the Toes (1952). … As an orphan, his character fueled the plot in The Mating of Millie (1948), a charming romantic comedy starring Evelyn Keyes and Glenn Ford, who taught him how to shoot marbles on the set. And in The Lone Hand (1953), Hunt portrayed the son of a widowed farmer (Joel McCrea) and served as the film’s narrator in what he said was one of his favorite acting experiences.
{snip}
His most memorable role, however, came as David MacLean in the cult sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars (1953), directed by famed production designer William Cameron Menzies. … In the movie — made in about 3 1/2 weeks for less than $300,000 — David spies a flying saucer from his bedroom and notices his dad (Leif Erickson) acting weird. Then he’s sucked underground, where he encounters a Martian and his green humanoid accomplices aboard the saucer. But was it all a dream? Gee whiz!
In Tobe Hooper’s 1986 remake of Invaders, Hunt came out of retirement to play a police chief. As he approaches a hill where the flying saucer may have landed, he says, “I haven’t been here for 40 years.” … It was the only movie of his career for which he received residuals. “Every once in a while, the Screen Actors Guild sends me a check for like nine dollars,” he said with a chuckle in 2022.
{snip}