Her work in feature films primarily consisted of small parts in a few major productions or leads in low-budget action and science-fiction movies; however, she had prominent recurring roles on several popular television series.

In the 1980s, she co-starred as Dotty West, the mother of Kate Jackson's character, in the CBS television series Scarecrow and Mrs.

One such role was as a secrets-keeping secretary in D.O.A..[6] In 1956, she played a female marshal in the Western Gunslinger with Chris Alcaide as her deputy; a prison escapee in Swamp Diamonds; and a scientist's wife who battles an alien in It Conquered the World.

In 1955, Garland was cast in the episode "Man Down, Woman Screaming" of Rod Cameron's first syndicated series, City Detective.

She appeared twice in 1960 as Doris Denny Bona in the episodes "Remember the Alamo" and "The Widow of Kill Cove" of Cameron's third syndicated series, Coronado 9.

[1]: 1031 In 1963, she starred as “Leah”, a bar girl in the Long Branch who loses her fiancée then is revived in life in the Gunsmoke episode “The Odyssey of Jubal Tanner” (S8E36).

[1] She appeared in the 1968 feature film Pretty Poison, but is best known for playing suburban mothers on My Three Sons and Scarecrow and Mrs. King.

In the 1980s, she co-starred as Dotty West, the mother of Kate Jackson's character for the entire four-season run of the CBS television series Scarecrow and Mrs.

Her decades of television guest appearances included episodes of Twilight Zone, Kung Fu, and The Mary Tyler Moore Show.

[11] Subsequently, Garland combined her acting career with an increased devotion to the hotel that Crank built and named for her.

[13] She was the honorary mayor of North Hollywood, and she served on the boards of the California Tourism Corporation as well as the Greater Los Angeles Visitors' and Convention Bureau.