Kim Hunter, who brought the role of Stella to life in stage and screen productions of 'A Streetcar Named Desire', died of an apparent heart attack at the age of 79.

Miss Hunter, who won a supporting Oscar for the 1951 film version of 'Streetcar', died Wednesday in her Greenwich Village apartment, according to her daughter, Kathryn Emmett.

In 1956, Miss Hunter performed in 'Bermuda Affair', a Columbia Pictures release filmed in Bermuda.

According to the All Movie Guide website, the film also starred Gary Merrill and Ron Randell, who played a pair of army chums who ran a post-war air transport service.

In the movie, Merrill had an affair with Randell 's wife but made up for all past misdeeds when he gave up his own life to save his friend from certain doom.

Miss Hunter also starred in the first 'Planet of the Apes'.

"Kim Hunter was a fine actress and a wonderful person," said actor Charlton Heston, who co-starred in 'Planet of the Apes'.

"The world has lost a unique talent."

The Associated Press said the actress enjoyed a long and busy career in theatre, but had fewer opportunities in film, partly because she was blacklisted during the red-hunting 1950s.

'A Streetcar Named Desire' was the highlight of Hunter's career.

The play was cast with Marlon Brando as Stanley Kowalski, Karl Malden as Mitch, and Jessica Tandy as the tragic Blanche DuBois.

Hunter was cast as Dr. Zira, a chimpanzee psychiatrist in the science fiction classic.

Applying and removing the makeup and monkey suit took hours.

"It was pretty claustrophobic and painful to a certain extent," she said in a 1998 interview.