Ian Hunter was born in the Kenilworth area of Cape Town, South Africa, where he spent his childhood. Later, in his teenage years, he and his parents returned to their family origins in England to live.
Somewhere between that arrival and the early years of World War I, Hunter began exploring acting, and in 1917, at the age of 17, he joined the army to serve in France for the last year of the conflict.
Within two years, he made his stage-acting debut. Hunter would never forget the stage was the thing when the lure of movie making called - he would always return through his career.
With a jovial face perpetually on the verge of smiling and a friendly and mildly English accent, Hunter had good guy lead written all over him.
He decided to sample the relatively young British silent film industry by taking a part in Not for Sale (1924) for British director W.P. Kellino, who had started out writing and acting for the theater.
Hunter then made his first trip to the U.S. - Broadway, not Hollywood - because Basil Dean, a well-known British actor, director, and producer, was producing Sheridan's "The School for Scandal" at the Knickerbocker Theater.
Ian Hunter's next person biography:
