Marsha Hunt (actress, born 1946)

When Hunt and Ratledge reached their 40th wedding anniversary, Hunt called Ratledge up and said, jokingly, "We should renew our vows."

Marsha Hunt (born April 15, 1946) is an American actress, novelist, singer and former model, who has lived mostly in Britain and Ireland.

She achieved national fame when she appeared in London as Dionne in the long-running rock musical Hair.

She enjoyed close relationships with Marc Bolan and Mick Jagger, who is the father of her only child, Karis Jagger.

Hunt has written three novels, as well as three volumes of autobiography, which include a frank account of life as a breast cancer sufferer.

Hunt was born in Philadelphia in 1946 and lived in North Philadelphia, near 23rd and Columbia, then in Germantown and Mount Airy, for the first 13 years of her life.

Hunt told The Philadelphia Inquirer that she remembers Philadelphia with affection, particularly the "Philadelphia steak sandwiches and the bad boys on the basketball court".

Hunt's mother, Inez, was her primary parent and worked as a librarian in a local library.

Hunt's father, Blaire Theodore Hunt, Jr., was one of America's first black psychiatrists but he did not live with Hunt; she found out when she was 15 years old that he had taken his own life three years previously.

Hunt was brought up by her mother, her aunt, and her grandmother; three strong but very different women.

Hunt describes her mother Inez as "extremely intelligent and education-minded", her Aunt Thelma as "extremely Catholic but very glamorous", and her grandmother Edna as an "extremely aggressive...ass-kicking" independent Southern woman.

Hunt credits the experience of having been poor with teaching her not to be materialistic.

Her family put a great deal of emphasis on academic performance, and Hunt did very well in school.

In 1960, the family moved to Kensington, California, which Hunt still regards as home, so that her brother and sister could attend Oakland High School and prepare to attend the University of California, Berkeley.

Hunt has said that in London in the 1960s "anything seemed possible."

She briefly lived in Edinburgh, Scotland, before returning to London where she became a backing singer with Alexis Korner's trio Free at Last.

She then met and began a short relationship with musician John Mayall, inspiring Mayall's songs "Marsha's Mood" and "Brown Sugar".

Although Hunt indicates that she had no great musical talent, she worked as a singer for 18 months after arriving in England, intending to earn her fare back home.

Hunt also went to Berkeley, in 1964, where she joined Jerry Rubin on protest marches against the Vietnam War.

In her book Undefeated she recalled that during her time at Berkeley they "were sitting in for the Free Speech Movement, smoking pot, experimenting with acid, lining up to take Oriental philosophy courses, daring to co-habit, and going to dances in San Francisco."

In February 1966, Hunt booked a flight for a brief trip to London, where she was temporarily detained before a fellow detainee gave her details of contacts, including John Shepherd, who worked on the television show Ready Steady Go!.

Through Shepherd, she met Kenny Lynch, and then appeared as an extra in Michelangelo Antonioni's film Blow-Up.

In late 1966, Hunt met Mike Ratledge of Soft Machine.

Hunt was having trouble getting a visa extension to stay in England and proposed to Ratledge.

Ratledge and Hunt were married on April 15, 1967.

The Soft Machine were heavily booked and there was no time for a honeymoon, but Ratledge and Hunt were able to spend two months together before the band headed for France later that year.

After her marriage in 1967, Hunt took a singing job with Long John Baldry's band Bluesology, alongside keyboard player Reg Dwight, soon to be known as Elton John.

She also auditioned for Ratledge's band Soft Machine, and in 1968, briefly joined the group The Ferris Wheel.

That same year, Hunt achieved national fame in England when she appeared as "Dionne" in the rock musical Hair, a box-office smash on the London stage.

Hunt only had two lines of dialogue in Hair, but she attracted a lot of media attention and her photo appeared in many newspapers and magazines.

Her photograph was used on the poster and playbill of the original London production, photographed by Justin de Villeneuve.

Her 1968 photo also replaced the original LP artwork when Reader's Digest re-issued the LP in Europe in 1976.

Hunt says that the role was a perfect fit for her, expressing who she actually was.

She was one of three Americans featured in the London show, and when the show began she had no contract to perform.

When the show opened she was featured in so many stories that she was offered a contract right away.

Hunt played at the Jazz Bilzen and Isle of Wight music festivals in August 1969 with her backup band "White Trash".

Hunt's first single, a cover of Dr John's "Walk on Gilded Splinters", produced by Tony Visconti, was released on Track Records in 1969; it became a minor hit.

An album, Woman Child (also produced by Tony Visconti) (in Germany released under the title Desdemona), followed in 1971.

Hunt said in 1991 that she and Ratledge never held hands and never kissed, though "...he comes for Easter. But that's what we called 'married'."

While the two have remained good friends, Hunt says the secret to a happy marriage is to "separate immediately."