The popular actress from America's south was born the youngest of seven children in 1958, to parents who encouraged her interest in the arts right from the start. Her first acting part was as Helen Keller in a school play. Hunter went on to study drama at Carnegie Mellon University before heading to New York in 1980. In a twist of fate she met the playwright Beth Henley in an elevator when it broke down.

Hunter starred in four of Henley's southern gothic plays, such as Crimes of the Heart - Hunter's Broadway debut - and The Miss Firecracker Contest. She made her debut in a forgettable slasher film, The Burning (1981). The actress then decided to try her luck in Los Angeles instead, where she landed roles in several TV movies and a supporting role in Swing Shift. In 1987 she landed her first movie role - said to have been written for her - in Raising Arizona.

But it was another 1987 movie that catapulted her to real fame: Broa