[2][3][4] Bliss McLaren was born in Hope, North Dakota, to attorney C. Milford MacLaren and actress Alma Gallinger.

[5][6] She grew up primarily in Chicago, and became interested in acting when her family relocated to New York City later on;.

[8] When she became an actress at the age of 15 — appearing, at first, in minor roles on the stage in New York — she used her father's middle name as her last name for her film credits.

[9] She joined the company of actor and playwright David Higgins in the early 1900s, alongside her mother.

In addition to her work as an actress, screenwriter, and songwriter, she also served for a time on the board of directors of the Toledo School for Crippled Children.