Marsha Hunt (born April 15, 1946) is an American actress, novelist, singer and former model, who has lived mostly in Britain and Ireland. She achieved national fame when she appeared in London as Dionne in the long-running rock musical Hair. She had relationships with Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger, who is the father of her only child, Karis Jagger.

Hunt has written three novels and three autobiographies, which include a frank account of life as a breast cancer sufferer.

Early life

Hunt was born in Philadelphia in 1946 and lived in North Philadelphia, near 23rd and Columbia,

Hunt's mother, Inez, was her primary parent and worked as a librarian in a local library. Hunt's father, Blaire Theodore Hunt Jr., Hunt was brought up by her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother. In her book Undefeated she recalled that during her time at Berkeley they "were sitting in for the Free Speech Movement, smoking pot, experimenting with acid, lining up to take Oriental philosophy courses, daring to co-habit, and going to dances in San Francisco." Hunt has said that in London in the 1960s "anything seemed possible." before returning to London where she became a backing singer with Alexis Korner's trio Free at Last. Ratledge and Hunt were married on April 15, 1967.

Music career

After her marriage in 1967, Hunt took a singing job with Long John Baldry's band Bluesology, alongside keyboard player Reg Dwight, soon to be known as Elton John. Her 1968 photo also replaced the original LP artwork when Reader's Digest re-issued the LP in Europe in 1976. Hunt says that the role was a perfect fit for her and expressed who she actually was. and Isle of Wight music festivals in August 1969 with her backup band "White Trash". Hunt's first single, a cover of Dr John's "Walk on Gilded Splinters", produced by Tony Visconti, was released on Track Records in 1969; it became a minor hit. According to Hunt, the relationship between the two was based on more than physical attraction, though she also recalled that her commercial visibility put her in opposition to Bolan's philosophy that "the serious art of music...was validated by obscurity." Also in 1973, as a member of a panel organised by British magazine Melody Maker to discuss women in music and options open to Black women, Hunt suggested that Black women needed to make use of the "side-door" in the industry, entering as "the statutory representative" before they could make music under their own terms.

In 1976, she released two funk-pop singles produced by Steve Rowland, and the following year issued an album, Marsha, produced by Pete Bellotte, which she later described as "a musical departure that had nothing to do with my own taste". and the photo appeared on the cover of British Vogue<nowiki>'</nowiki>s January 1969 issue. Almost 40 years later Hunt again posed nude for Lichfield, She was pleased to work with the photographer under such differing circumstances, although in her autobiography she expressed confusion as to why the photo has been so often reprinted.

Relationship with Mick Jagger

Hunt said that she met Mick Jagger in 1969 when the Rolling Stones asked her to pose for an ad for "Honky Tonk Women", which she refused to do because she "didn't want to look like [she'd] just been had by all the Rolling Stones." On 4 November 1970, Karis was born in London. She is Hunt's only child. Jagger called the suit "silly". In 1978, Hunt filed a paternity suit in Los Angeles asking for $580 a week. At the time, Hunt was unemployed and received welfare payments from Aid to Dependent Children. In 1979, Hunt won the paternity suit, saying she wanted "only to be able to say to my daughter, when she's 21, that I didn't allow her father to neglect his responsibilities". Jagger grew closer to Karis when she was 11 years old, legally, financially, and personally. He paid for her education at a private secondary school and at Yale University and employed her in the Rolling Stones' infrastructure as a researcher on the 25×5: the Continuing Adventures of the Rolling Stones documentary. Jagger took her on holiday with his family when she was a teenager, attended her Yale University graduation and her 2000 wedding, and he was at the hospital for the birth of her son in 2004.

"Brown Sugar"

Christopher Sandford writes in his book Mick Jagger that when the Rolling Stones released the song "Brown Sugar" there was immediate speculation that it referred to Hunt or to soul singer Claudia Lennear. In her autobiography, Real Life (1985), Hunt acknowledged that "Brown Sugar" and a few other songs are about her, In 2014, Lennear told The Times that the song is about her because she was dating Jagger when he wrote it. Hunt was also the titular dedicatee Marsha in Robert Wyatt's song "To Carla, Marsha and Caroline (For Making Everything Beautifuller)" from his album The End of an Ear.

Writing

Autobiography

Hunt began writing in 1985, and her first book was her autobiography, Real Life: The Story of a Survivor (1986). In 1996, she published her second autobiography, Repossessing Ernestine: A Granddaughter Uncovers the Secret History of Her American Family, about her search for her paternal grandmother who was placed in an asylum for nearly 50 years. In 2005, Hunt released her memoir about her battle with cancer, Undefeated.

Novelist

In 1990, Hunt published her first novel, Joy, about a woman who grew up to join a singing group reminiscent of The Supremes before dying an early death. Her novel Like Venus Fading (1998) is inspired by the lives of Adelaide Hall, known as the "lightly-tanned Venus", Josephine Baker and Dorothy Dandridge.

Hunt wrote her first four books whilst living in isolation in a remote hideaway in France called La montagne. The book contains 15 stories divided into five sections: Childhood, Family Life, The Score, Criminal Life and Prison Life. It became a number-one bestseller in Ireland in 1999. Awarded to "the best unpublished novel by a writer born in Great Britain or The Republic of Ireland having a black African ancestor", the prize, while attracting criticism from the Commission for Racial Equality, ran for four years until 1998. Winners including Diran Adebayo and Joanna Traynor.

During the 1997 Edinburgh International Book Festival, Hunt staged a one-woman protest, picketing Charlotte Square about the "shoddy administration" of the festival. the rock-and-roll stage version of Othello produced by Jack Good. The music from the show was released on vinyl in 1982 by Virgin Records, featuring vocals by Robert Wyatt. In 1975, Hunt appeared as Sabina in The Skin of Our Teeth. Hunt became a member of the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. The play is based on Hunt's 1990 novel, Joy, and was directed by Hunt's daughter, Karis Jagger. The Sender (1982), Never Say Never Again (1983), Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985), and Tank Malling (1989).

Television

In 1988, Hunt played Elvi Rogers in The Play on One: Unreported Incident. In 1990, Hunt played Bianca in the BBC television production of Othello directed by Trevor Nunn. Hunt fell in love with Gilsenan and moved to the Wicklow mountains near Dublin with him, As of 2008, Hunt and Gilsenan were no longer in a relationship.

Cancer

In late 2004, Hunt was diagnosed with breast cancer and was told to have surgery to remove her right breast and her lymph nodes. She chose to have surgery in Ireland and had a complete mastectomy with no following reconstruction. She herself describes her skin colour as "oak with a hint of maple",

References

  • Marsha Hunt at HorrorStars