Biography

He agreed to "front" for Dalton Trumbo, the real author of Roman Holiday (1953), because Trumbo was blacklisted. Hunter passed along a portion of the money he "earned" for writing the film to Trumbo, but he kept the screenwriting Oscar, which the Academy awarded to him without having any idea that they were really honoring a blacklistee. Shortly afterwards, Hunter himself was also blacklisted. Trumbo's wife, Cleo, was finally presented with the award in 1993, long after his death in 1976. The Oscar she received was actually a second one, because Hunter's son wouldn't give up his father's Oscar, so two awards for Best Screenplay of 1953 exist. The story credit was corrected to credit Trumbo when the restored edition was released in 2002, nearly fifty years after the original release.

Is portrayed by Alan Tudyk in Dalton Trumbo (2015).

Came to America with his parents when a teenager.

For 20 years taught dramatic writing at New York University and latterly became screenwriting adviser at the Sundance Institute in Utah. He was a longtime member of the council of the Writers Guild of America, East.

Father of director Tim Hunter.