Barbara Hunter

Barbara Hunter
Hunter in 1939, after an attempted suicide
Born	Barbara Hunter Elder ~1899 Virginia, USA
Died	??? ???
Occupation(s)	Film editor, screenwriter, aviator
Spouse	William Dietz

Barbara Hunter was an American film editor and screenwriter active primarily during Hollywood's silent era.

Biography

Barbara got her start in the film industry serving as the personal secretary of Thomas A. Edison and later became the chief scenario writer at Pathe (she did not receive credits for these screenwriting efforts).

Later, she took on editing work, cutting films like Geraldine and A Ship Comes In.[1] She also had an interest in flying, and became one of the first 100 women in the country to get a flying license[2][3](she was even once mistaken for Amelia Earhart after landing her plane in Lodi, California).[4][5]

In 1927, she married Pathe cameraman William Holt Dietz and seems to have retired from the industry afterward.[2][6] The pair enjoyed flying and yachting together.[7] Toward the end of her life, she was suffering pain from old injuries sustained in an automobile accident and was in poor health; she died sometime around 1940, and was survived by her husband and her son from an earlier relationship.[8]

Selected filmography

• Square Shoulders (1929)[9]
• Geraldine (1929)[9]
• The Cop (1928)
• A Ship Comes In (1928)
• Dress Parade (1927)
• The Fighting Eagle (1927)
• Vanity (1927)
• Cheap Kisses (1927)

References

1. "8 Feb 1928, 27 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
2. "20 Oct 1939, 33 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
3. "31 Mar 1929, 50 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
4. "16 Sep 1930, Page 26 - Oakland Tribune at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
5. "16 Sep 1930, 10 - The San Francisco Examiner at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
6. "5 Mar 1929, 50 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
7. "18 Dec 1936, 16 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
8. "20 Oct 1939, 33 - The Los Angeles Times at Newspapers.com". Newspapers.com. Retrieved 2019-03-11.
9. Fleming, E. J. (2009-03-23). Paul Bern: The Life and Famous Death of the MGM Director and Husband of Harlow. McFarland. ISBN 9780786452743.