She made her film debut in She's My Lillie, I'm Her Willie and subsequently played minor roles, often as showgirls. Several of her early roles were in musicals and she achieved some success as a singer. By the end of the decade she had played leading female roles in several "B" pictures, playing one of her most notable roles in
James Whale's Sinners in Paradise (1938). Despite her success she was often cast in minor roles in more widely seen films such as His Girl Friday (1940). The majority of her roles were in comedies but she also appeared in dramas such as Boom Town (1940) in which she played a dance hall singer who is briefly romanced by
Clark Gable. She played secondary roles in three
Lupe Vélez "
Mexican Spitfire" films in the early 1940s, and was a comic foil for the
Marx Brothers in The Big Store, where the back of her skirt is cut away by
Harpo.
By the late 1940s, her roles were often minor.
Three Stooges fans will remember her as western cowgirl Gladys in Merry Mavericks. She played "Belle Farnol" in a 1950 episode of The Lone Ranger entitled "Pardon for Curley". Shortly afterward, she made her final film appearance in 1952. Married to a physicist, Martin retired, and although she expressed the desire to return to show business, suitable roles were not offered to her.
Personal
She was awarded a star at 6915 Hollywood Boulevard on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame for her contributions to motion pictures.[2] She died of cardiac arrest in 1985 in Los Angeles, California, and was buried in
Holy Cross Cemetery in
Culver City, California.[3]