Ross Hunter (born Martin Terry Fuss; May 6, 1920 – March 10, 1996) was an American film and television producer and actor.
He is best known for producing light comedies such as Pillow Talk (1959), and the glamorous melodramas Magnificent Obsession (1954), Imitation of Life (1959), and Back Street (1961).
Over the course of his career, Hunter produced films of various genres but found his greatest success with light-hearted comedies, musicals and melodramatic "tear jerkers" that were high on romance and glamour.
Hunter had support parts in Ever Since Venus (1944) and She's a Sweetheart (1944) and was promoted to star for A Guy, a Gal and a Pal (1945), directed by Budd Boetticher.
[5] During the late 1940s, Hunter enrolled at the Motion Picture Center Studio where he was trained – for free – in film production.
He performed similar duties on Woman on the Run (1950) at Universal with Ann Sheridan who Hunter says promoted and mentored him.
[9] He was dialogue director on The Sword of Monte Cristo (1951) at Fox, and When I Grow Up (1951) for Sam Spiegel at United Artists.
In 1951, Universal-International hired him as an associate producer for the film Flame of Araby, starring Jeff Chandler and Maureen O'Hara.
They also worked on Take Me to Town (1953), a Western with Sheridan and Sterling Hayden directed by Douglas Sirk who became important to Hunter's career.
[12] Hunter produced a film noir with Sterling Hayden, Naked Alibi (1954); and a Western with Lex Barker, The Yellow Mountain (1954).
Imitation of Life was a remake of the 1934 film directed by Sirk, with Lana Turner, Dee and Rock Hudson look-alike John Gavin.
[18] The film was bettered in popularity by the romantic comedy Pillow Talk, starring Doris Day and Rock Hudson, which was released later in the year and went on to earn rentals of $7.6 million in the United States and Canada.
Hunter later said, "I gave the public what they wanted: a chance to dream, to live vicariously, to see beautiful women, jewels, gorgeous clothes, melodrama.
In 1962 Hunter announced he had six films coming up: If a Man Answers, a new Tammy, remakes of Dark Angel and Madam X, The Thrill of It All and The Chalk Garden.
[22] He did two romantic comedies with Dee, If a Man Answers (1962) with Bobby Darin and Tammy and the Doctor (1963) with Peter Fonda.
[23] Hunter produced a hugely popular comedy with Day and James Garner, The Thrill of It All (1963), directed by Norman Jewison.
He then did his first ever straight drama, The Chalk Garden (1964) with Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills, which was well reviewed and performed well commercially.
[8][25] He produced I'd Rather Be Rich (1964) with Dee, a remake of It Started with Eve (1941), and The Art of Love (1965) with Garner, directed by Jewison.
He had a big hit with the musical Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967) starring Julie Andrews, Mary Tyler Moore and Gavin.
He produced A Family Upside Down (1978) with Fred Astaire and Helen Hayes, and Suddenly, Love (1979) with Cindy Williams.