A charming, dark-haired leading lady of the early '30s, she trained as a ballet dancer, then went on to appear in several Broadway musicals. With the advent of the sound era she moved to Hollywood, debuting onscreen in 1929; she played leads in routine films, and for a time was a very busy screen actress. After marrying producer Merian C. Cooper she retired from the screen in 1933. She returned in the '50s to appear in three John Ford films, at Ford's request.