Born Louise Dantzler, Brian won a "Miss Personality" prize in a Los Angeles beauty contest and was awarded the role of Wendy in Peter Pan (1924). She went on to play "nice girl" romantic leads and ingenues. Her career was more successful during the silent era, so she retired from the screen in 1937 to marry her second husband, the editor George Tomasini; Brian returned to play occasional roles in B-movies during the '40s, and in 1953 appeared in the TV series Meet Corliss Archer. Her last film role was in The Dragnet (1947).