Kim Hunter's father, Donald Cole, was a consulting engineer who tragically passed away in 1926 when Kim was just three years old. Her mother, Grace Lind, was a former concert pianist, and Kim had an older brother who was eight years her senior. Kim was educated at Miami Beach High School.
As a child, Kim was quiet and painfully shy, but she overcame her shyness with the guidance of a local dramatics teacher, Mrs. Carmine, who taught her diction, voice, and posture lessons.
Kim's early studies took her to the Actors Studio, where she made her first professional appearance as "Penny" in "Penny Wise" in Miami in November 1939. She then joined a repertory group called "Theatre of Fifteen," but it disbanded in 1942 due to the majority of its male members being called to serve in World War II.
Kim made her Broadway debut as "Stella" in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre in New York in December 1947, which was a huge success and earned her the Critics Circle and Donaldson awards.
Kim was a student at the Pasadena Playhouse, where she appeared in the 1942 production of "Arsenic and Old Lace." It was during this production that she was discovered by an RKO talent hunter, who signed her to a seven-year contract with David O. Selznick's company. Selznick suggested she change her first name to "Kim" and a RKO secretary suggested the last name "Hunter."
A few years later, Irene Mayer Selznick, David's ex-wife, recommended Kim for her reprise role as "Stella" in "A Streetcar Named Desire" (1951),which earned her an Academy Award.
