Born Julie Peck, she made her name as a sultry, unusual nightclub blues singer, and also had a recording career. From the mid '40s she appeared in numerous Hollywood films, playing both leads and second leads; however, her film career never really took off, and she was rarely onscreen after 1961. She has also worked on TV. From 1945-53 she was married to actor Jack Webb; while costarring in the early '70s TV series Emergency!, which Webb produced, she met her second husband, actor Bobby Troupe, another Emergency costar.