Godspeed Gayle Hunnicutt

Gayle Hunnicutt, who starred in such movies as Marlowe (1969) and was a regular on Dallas, died on August 31 2023 at the age of 80.

Gayle Hunnicutt was born on February 6 1943 in Fort Worth, Texas. She attended the University of California, Los Angeles on a scholarship, where she studied English and theatre. A Warner Brows. talent scout spotted her in a production at UCLA. She made her television debut in 1966 in an episode of the short-lived comedy Mister Roberts. That same year she appeared in the movie The Wild Angels. In the Sixties she guest starred on such TV shows as The Beverly Hillbillies; Hey, Landlord; Love on a Rooftop; and Get Smart. She appeared in the movies P.J. (1967), Eye of the Cat (1969), Marlowe (1969), Fragment of Fear (1970), and Freelance (1970).

In the Seventies Gayle Hunnicutt appeared in the television mini-series The Golden Bowl, Fall of Eagles, L'homme sans visage, A Man Called Intrepid, The Martian Chronicles, and Fantômas. She guest starred on the TV shows Love, American Style; ITV Saturday Night Theatre; Away from It All; Thriller; Affairs of the Heart; Switch; 2nd House; BBC Play of the Month; Return of The Saint; and The Love Boat. She appeared in the movies The Love Machine (1971), Running Scared (1972), Scorpio (1973), The Legend of Hell House (1973), Voices (1973), Nuits rogues (1974), The Spiral Staircase (1975), Una Magnum Special per Tony Sarita (1976), The Sell Out (1976), Once in Paris.. (1978), and Flashpoint Africa (1980).

From 1989 to 1991 Gaye Hunnicutt had a recurring role on the night-time soap opera Dallas. She guest starred on the TV shows Lady Killers; Matt Houston; Taxi; Fantasy Island; Philip Marlowe, Private Eye; Tales of the Unexpected; The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes; and Lime Street. She appeared in the mini-series The First Olympics: Athens 1896, A Woman of Substance, and Dream West. She appeared in the TV movie The Return of the Man From U.N.C.L.E.: The 15 Years Later Affair. She appeared in the movies Target (1985), Dream Lover (1986), Turnaround (1987), Zwei Frauen (1989), and Es ist nicht leicht, ein Gott zu sein (1989).

Gayle Hunnicutt continued to appear on Dallas until 1991. In the Nineties she guest starred on the shows Screen Two, Tales from the Crypt, and CI5: The New Professionals.

Gayle Hunnicutt was a very talented actress who played a variety of roles. Among her most notable roles on television was one of her earliest, her guest appearances on The Beverly Hillbillies episode "The Badger Game" and "The Badgers Return." She played con woman Emaline Fetty who attempted to con millionaire Jed Clampett out of money. On Dallas she played Vanessa Beaumont, an old flame of J.R. Ewing. In The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes adaptation of "A Scandal in Bohemia" she played none other than Irene Adler, the character that Sherlock Holmes always referred to as "the Woman." In the movie Marlowe she played Mavis Wald, a television actress who had a tryst with a mobster. In The Legend of Hell House she played the wife of a physicist hired to investigate Belasco House, an unusual mansion said to be haunted. In P.J. she played the mistress of a millionaire that the private eye of the title is hired to protect. Gayle Hunnicutt played a wide array of different roles. What is more, she did all of them well.