Lois Hunt

Lois Marie Kelso Hunt (July 16, 1926 – May 20, 2018) was an American actress, theater director, and arts advocate whose career spanned stage, film, and television across several decades. Born in Oak Park, Illinois, to Hugh Donnally Kelso and Lou Lillian Hammerlund, she attended the University of Michigan, where she contributed to the student newspaper, before earning a graduate degree from Columbia University.

Hunt began her professional life as an educator, teaching English and drama at Passaic Valley High School and St. Mary's Hall, both located in New Jersey. In February 1954, she married Leon Gibson Hunt in Mountain Lakes, New Jersey. Her Broadway career ran from 1952 to 1959 and included appearances in Buttrio Square and the musical The Sound of Music. Although the database credits her as originally from York, Pennsylvania, biographical records identify her birthplace as Oak Park, Illinois.

In 1965, Hunt relocated to Alexandria, Virginia, where she became active in regional theater, performing in productions for the Washington, D.C. Arena Stage, Studio Theatre, Castle Performing Arts Center, and the Jewish Community Center. Between 1966 and 1968, she served as director and producer of a touring production of They Aren't Real to Me, a one-act play written by Episcopalian priest and gay rights activist Malcolm Boyd.

Hunt made her feature film debut in 1982 in the slasher film The House on Sorority Row, playing a housemother killed by her sorority. Her voice was dubbed in post-production after it was judged insufficiently menacing for the role. The film subsequently developed a cult following. She later guest-starred in the episode "Fire: Part II" of the television series Homicide: Life on the Street in 1995, and appeared in a minor role in the comedy film Head of State in 2003. Hunt and her husband Leon divorced on December 31, 1985, following a one-year separation.

Hunt devoted much of her later life to philanthropic and humanitarian work in Alexandria. She served on the Alexandria Beautification Commission, chaired the Bicentennial Trees of Alexandria, and held the presidency of the Taylor Run Civic Association. She volunteered with Meals on Wheels and the Episcopal Peace Fellowship, and was a member of the League of Women Voters, the American Association of University Women, Amnesty International, and the Alexandria Democratic Committee. Hunt was predeceased by her eldest son, Nathaniel, who died in a swimming accident in 2011, and by her former husband, Leon Hunt. She is survived by three other children. Hunt died of pneumonia at Inova Alexandria Hospital on May 20, 2018, at the age of 91.