Hunnicutt gained early acting experience in
stock theatre and entertained in traveling shows. An article in the September 22, 1940, issue of the
Brooklyn Daily Eagle reported "There isn't a decent sized medicine show traveling through Kentucky, Illinois, Georgia, Indiana or Mississippi, nor a stock company touring those states, which hasn't had the name of Arthur Hunnicutt on its programs." While touring as the lead actor in
Tobacco Road, he developed the country character he would later be typecast as throughout his career. Hunnicutt often found himself cast as a character much older than himself. He appeared in a number of films in the early 1940s, then returned to the stage. In 1949 he returned to Hollywood and resumed his film career. He played a long string of supporting roles—sympathetic, wise rural types, as in
The Red Badge of Courage (1951),
The Lusty Men (1952),
The Kettles in the Ozarks (1955),
The Last Command (1955, as
Davy Crockett),
The Tall T (1957),
Cat Ballou (1965, as
Butch Cassidy),
El Dorado (1966) and
The Adventures of Bullwhip Griffin. In 1952, he was nominated for an
Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor in the
Howard Hawks film
The Big Sky. Throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, Hunnicutt made nearly 40 guest appearances on American television programs. He made two memorable appearances on
Perry Mason in 1963: He played orange grower Amos Kennesaw Mountain Keller in "The Case of the Golden Oranges" and prospector Sandy Bowen in "The Case of the Drowsy Mosquito." He also made guest appearances on
Bonanza,
Cheyenne,
Gunsmoke,
The Outer Limits,
The Rifleman,
Wanted: Dead or Alive,
The Andy Griffith Show,
My Three Sons,
The Wild Wild West,
Adam-12, and
The Twilight Zone. In
Moonrunners (1975), one of his later movies and the precursor to
The Dukes of Hazzard, he played the original
Uncle Jesse. In his later years, Hunnicutt served as honorary mayor of Northridge, California. He developed tongue cancer. == Death ==