Martha Hyer was born on August 10, 1924 in Fort Worth, Texas. She was 11 when she first appeared in a film entitled THUNDER MOUNTAIN in 1935. For the next eleven years she would go back to the important task of growing up. Once she finished her formal schooling, Martha played a bit role in 1946's THE LOCKET. Slowly, Martha began picking up roles with more and more substance. The best years for the beautiful actress began in 1954 when she played in films such as DOWN THREE DARK STREETS (1954), SHOWDOWN AT ABILENE (1956), and BATTLE HYMN (1957). Perhaps the best role of her long career was as Gwen French in 1958's SOME CAME RUNNING in which she starred opposite Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Shirley MacLaine. As a result of her stellar role, Martha received an Academy Award nomination as Best Supporting Actress, but she lost out to Wendy Hiller in SEPARATE TABLES. Afterwards Martha's stint on the US silver screen's trailed off some. She did made a handful of foreign films, returning to appear in the US from time to time, but nothing compared to the pace she had in the fifties. Her last film was in 1973 in the film DAY OF THE WOLVES. In 1966 she married producer, Hal B.Wallis and remained with him until his death in 1986.
This placid blonde was once in the running for the role of Marion Crane in Hitchcock's Psycho, but lost out to Janet Leigh. Was once labeled "Universal's answer to Grace Kelly". Measurements: 36 1/2-23-36 (in 1956), (Source: Celebrity Sleuth magazine) Her classmates at Northwestern University included Cloris Leachman, Paul Lynde, Charlotte Rae, Charlton Heston, Patricia Neal and Agnes Nixon.