A tall, thin, homely actress with an arch New England accent and close-cropped hair, she appeared onscreen from the early '50s and had supporting roles in many films, almost all before 1970. She is best known for her work on TV sitcoms, particularly in The Bob Cummings Show (as an eccentric bird-watcher) and The Beverly Hillbillies (as plain, snobbish bank secretary Jane Hathaway). She was later active in politics, and in 1984 she ran unsuccessfully for Congress in Pennylvania.