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In 1950, while a graduate student in radio at the University of California, Los Angeles and appearing in a college play, he was spotted by talent scouts and offered a two-year motion picture contract by 20th Century Fox that was eventually extended to 1959. He made his Hollywood debut in Fourteen Hours (1951), had star billing by Red Skies of Montana (1952), and first billing in Sailor of the King (1953).

Hunter's handsome looks and gentle manner recalled two earlier Fox stars, Tyrone Power and the young Henry Fonda. A loan-out to co-star with John Wayne in the title roles of the now-classic western The Searchers (1956) began the first of three pictures he made with director John FordJohn Ford ( February 1, 1894 August 31, 1973) was one of the most accomplished American film directors of the 1930s to 1960s, known particularly as a director of the Westerns, although his tributes to the veterans of World War II and Americana are also eq, followed by The Last Hurrah (1958) and Sergeant Rutledge (1960).

Ford also recommended Hunter to director Nicholas RayNicholas Ray (born Raymond Nicholas Kienzle ( August 7, 1911 June 16, 1979) was an American film director. Coming out of a radio background, Ray directed his first film, "They Live By Night", in 1947. It was released two years later due to the chaotic con for the role of Jesus Christ in the biblical King of Kings (1961), a difficult part met by critical reaction that ranged from praise to ridicule. Among an all-star cast in the World War II battle epic The Longest DayThe Longest Day is a book by Cornelius Ryan published in 1959, telling the story of D-Day, the first day of the World War II invasion of Normandy. The book takes its name from a quote by Erwin Rommel: ". the first 24 hours of the invasion will be decisive (1962), he provided the climactic heroic act of breaching the defense wall atop Normandy's Omaha BeachOmaha Beach was the Allied codename for one of the principal landing points during the Normandy landings on June 6 1944. The beach is about 3. 5 miles long, from Sainte-Honorine-des-Pertes to Vierville-sur-Mer. To the west of the beach, the American 29th.

Having guest starred on television dramas since the mid-1950s, Hunter was now offered a two-year contract by Warner Bros.Warner Bros. the abbreviated name of Warner Bros. Entertainment is one of the world's largest producers of film and television entertainment. It is presently a subsidiary of the Time Warner conglomerate and headquartered in Burbank, California. Subsidiari that included starring as a circuit-riding Texas lawyer in the NBCSteff Geissbuhler. The feathers are said to represent the network's six divisions. NBC Universal Television is an American television network based in New York's Rockefeller Center. As of May 2004, it became part of NBC Universal. NBC supplies programming series Temple Houston (1963-64), which Hunter's production company co-produced.

Although Temple Houston did not survive its first season, NBC offered him the lead role of Captain Christopher PikeChristopher Pike is a fictional character in Star Trek. He appeared in the pilot episode The Cage as captain of the Starship Enterprise, and was then played by Jeffrey Hunter. This pilot was rejected; another was made, and the character of Pike was droppe in the pilot episode ( The Cage) of a new science fiction series, Star Trek. His pensive take on the role was in contrast to the more idiosyncratic style of William Shatner, who took the part after Hunter, deciding to concentrate on motion pictures, declined to film a second Star Trek pilot requested by NBC in 1965. But Hunter was soon filming the pilot for yet another NBC series, the espionage thriller Journey Into Fear, which the network failed to pick up.

With the demise of the studio contract system in the early 1960s and the out-sourcing of much feature production, Hunter like many other leading men of the 1950s had to find work in B-pictures produced in Europe, Hong Kong, and Mexico, with the occasional television guest part in Hollywood.

In May 1969, shortly after marrying actress Emily McLaughlin, he suffered a cerebrovascular accident while at home, causing a fall and a skull fracture. He died the following day from his injuries.

Hunter's two previous marriages included actress Barbara Rush in the early 1950s.