Jimmy Hunt, the former child actor and fan favorite for his roles in the original Cheaper by the Dozen adaptation and the 1953 sci-fi classic Invaders From Mars, has died.
Videos by Suggest
Hunt’s daughter-in-law, Alisa, revealed to The Hollywood Reporter that he passed away Friday in a hospital in Simi Valley, California, following complications from a heart attack he suffered six weeks earlier. He was 85.
A prolific child actor, Hunt appeared in 35 films between 1945 and 1953, according to IMDb, before retiring from acting at the age of 14.
He was perhaps best known for playing William Gilbreth, one of the 12 children in the 1950 film Cheaper by the Dozen. He also appeared in the 1952 sequel, Belles on Their Toes, as a different character named Fred.
However, classic sci-fi buffs will recognize Hunt for his standout performance as David MacLean in the 1953 cult favorite Invaders From Mars. In the film, David witnesses a flying saucer from his bedroom window, only to notice his father (played by Leif Erickson) behaving strangely soon after. His curiosity leads him underground, where he comes face-to-face with a Martian and its eerie green humanoid allies aboard the spacecraft.
Hunt returned from retirement to play a police chief in director Tobe Hooper’s 1986 remake of Invaders From Mars. In a wink at the audience, in one scene, his character approaches a hill where the flying saucer may have landed and says, “I haven’t been here for 40 years.”
Jimmy Hunt Made his Screen Debut in 1947
The actor, born in 1939, was discovered by an MGM talent agent at the age of six while at school in Los Angeles. He debuted in 1947, playing a young Navy pilot in the film High Barbaree.
In 1947, he appeared in five films and followed with eight more in 1948 while attending MGM’s Little Red Schoolhouse, where he studied alongside stars like Elizabeth Taylor and Roddy McDowall.
His onscreen parents included Jane Wyatt and Dick Powell in Pitfall (1948), Claudette Colbert in Family Honeymoon (1949), Ronald Reagan in Louisa (1950), Teresa Wright in The Capture (1950), and Patricia Neal in Week-End With Father (1951).
Hunt stopped acting at 14, saying he “would rather play sports in high school than make movies. So I retired,” as he explained in a 2017 interview. He later attended college, served three years in the US Army, and worked as a sales manager for an industrial tool and supply company.
Hunt is survived by his wife Roswitha, his children Randy, Ron, and Alisa, his sister Bonnie, nine grandchildren, and six great-grandchildren.