Kim Hunter: Zira

Kim Hunter (born Janet Cole in Detroit, Michigan on November 12, 1922, died in Greenwich Village, New York, September 11, 2002), a much-loved actress and a much-loved ape. Kim played Zira in the first three films in the series, Planet Of The Apes (1968), Beneath The Planet Of The Apes (1969) and Escape From The Planet Of The Apes (1971). Strangely, her biography on IMDb doesn't mention her Planet Of The Apes appearances at all!

Her Zira makeup, which at first took five hours to apply (it was later trimmed down to three and a half), made her feel claustrophobic and she was prescribed valium to help get her through it. Before appearing in Planet Of The Apes Kim won an Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Stella in the 1951 film version of A Streetcar Named Desire.