Profile Text
Hunter in 2013, photo by PrPhotos
Place of Birth: Conyers, Georgia, U.S.
Date of Birth: March 20, 1958
Ethnicity: English, as well as Irish, Scottish, Scots-Irish/Northern Irish, Welsh, German, and Swiss-German
Holly Hunter is an American actress, and producer. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for The Piano (1993). Her roles also include the films The Burning (1981), Swing Shift (1984), Raising Arizona , End of the Line (1987), Broadcast News , Miss Firecracker , Animal Behavior , Always (1989), Once Around , The Firm (1993), Copycat , Home for the Holidays (1995), Crash (1996), A Life Less Ordinary , Living Out Loud , Jesus’ Son , Woman Wanted , Things You Can Tell Just by Looking at Her , Timecode , O Brother, Where Art Thou? ; Festival in Cannes , Moonlight Mile , Levity , Thirteen (2003), Little Black Book , The Incredibles , and its sequel; Nine Lives (2005), The Big White , Won’t Back Down , Jackie (2012), Paradise (2013), Manglehorn , Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice , Strange Weather , Breakable You , The Big Sick , Song to Song , and The Electric State ; the made-for-tv movies Svengali (1983), A Gathering of Old Men , Roe vs. Wade , Crazy in Love (1992), The Positively True Adventures of the Alleged Texas Cheerleader-Murdering Mom , Harlan County War , and When Billie Beat Bobby ; the mini-series Bonnie & Clyde ; the series Saving Grace , Top of the Lake , Here and Now , Succession , Bless the Harts , The Comey Rule , Mr. Mayor , Mulligan , and Star Trek: Starfleet Academy ; the video games Disney Infinity , Disney Infinity: Marvel Super Heroes , and Disney Infinity 3.0 ; and the theme park attraction Incredicoaster .
She is the daughter of Marguerite Opal (Catledge) and Charles Edwin Hunter, a farmer, who also represented a sporting-goods company. She has two children with her partner, British actor Gordon MacDonald.
Holly’s paternal grandfather was named Charles Edwin Hunter (the son of Daniel Hunter). Charles was born in New York, to an English father.
Holly’s paternal grandmother was Gertrude Ferol Buchanan (the daughter of John Morrow Buchanan and Florida Carr). Gertrude was born in Rankin, Mississippi, and had partly deep American roots. John was the son of John Oswald Buchanan and Celestina Lacy. Florida was the daughter of Christian Fredrick Carr and Eleanor Elmira Grimes.
Holly’s maternal grandfather was Clyde C. Catledge (the son of Thomas Overton Catledge and Martha Dianne/Dian Pruitt/Pruett). Clyde was born in Oklahoma. Thomas was the son of James Catledge and Martha Ann Cotton. Holly’s great-grandmother Martha Pruitt was the daughter of Joseph Waters Pruitt and Malinda/Melinda Elizabeth Blanton.
Holly’s maternal grandmother was Mary Ruth Bell (the daughter of Willis G. Bell and Margaret Susan Anderson). Mary was born in Texas, and had deep roots in the U.S. Willis was the son of James Bell and Elizabeth Brady. Margaret was the daughter of James H. Anderson and Catharine Dudderar.
Sources: Obituary of Holly’s paternal grandmother, Gertrude Ferol (Buchanan) Hunter – https://www.newspapers.com
Holly’s mother on the 1930 U.S. Census – https://www.familysearch.org
Genealogy of Holly’s maternal grandfather, Clyde C. Catledge (through Clyde’s sister) – https://www.geni.com
Genealogy of Holly’s maternal great-great-grandmother, Malinda/Melinda Elizabeth Blanton – https://www.wikitree.com