**Kim Hunter** (Detroit, 1922 – New York, 2002) was an American actress, known for her intense and nuanced performances. She achieved international fame and won an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Stella Kowalski in Elia Kazan's masterpiece *A Streetcar Named Desire* (1951), where she masterfully conveyed the complexity of a woman torn between love and family loyalty.

Hunter was often cast as complex female characters: sensitive, vulnerable, yet endowed with deep inner strength and intelligence. Another iconic role that demonstrates her versatility is that of the ape scientist Zira in the renowned *Planet of the Apes* saga (starting in 1968), for which her expressiveness was crucial even under heavy prosthetic makeup. Her film career, though not extensive in terms of quantity, is marked by these unforgettable roles that cemented her reputation.