She was born in Covington, Kentucky, and during her teen years was active in local sports and training for national competitions.

As a dancer able to produce high kicks and precise turns, she soon joined a national touring company, and became known as "Minneapolis's Sweetheart".

[1] Billed as "The Girl with $100,000 Legs", she traveled the country and performed at the Minsky brothers' National Winter Garden theatre in New York.

She won further acclaim at an event in Cincinnati, when a fire broke out in the theatre but she continued performing, helping to ensure that the audience did not panic.

Towards the end of the engagement, she added tassels from a can-can costume to her pasties, and twirled them round as part of her dance.

[4] She met and married Chicago theatre owner Charles Grow, and settled in Independence, Kentucky, where they set up a nightclub.