Hurst was awarded the Leverhulme Scholarship to RADA and made her film debut as Joan Webb in Laughter in Paradise (1951) with director Mario Zampi describing her as "one of the greatest potential screen stars I have ever seen".

[3] In 1952, she appeared in the critically acclaimed Battle of Britain film Angels One Five, directed by George More O'Ferrall and starring alongside Jack Hawkins and John Gregson.

Hurst played the daughter of a traitor who assists in smuggling German arms to British East Africa during World War I.

She had roles in The Pursuers (1961), Public Eye (1966), The Baron (1967), Man in a Suitcase (1968), Detective (1968), Market in Honey Lane (1967), The Troubleshooters (1969), Fraud Squad (1970), The Persuaders!

[6] Her last screen appearance was an interview with Talking Pictures TV that year, which left a tribute after the programme announcing her death.