Noted for her buck teeth and comical singing style, she sang at clubs as a teen while working as a hat-check girl and electrician.

[citation needed] She also embarked on a movie career, most notably in The Fleet's In (1942) with Dorothy Lamour and Betty Hutton and Crazy House (1943) with Ole Olsen and Chic Johnson.

She was also a very popular singer with the troops overseas during World War II, and appeared many times on Armed Forces Radio Service (AFRS) broadcasts such as Command Performance and Mail Call.

After her divorce from husband Frank Kinsella, she attempted a comeback in the 1970s appearing in small television, film and stage roles.

[6] She was among the stars in the 1972 nostalgia revue Big Show of 1928, which toured the country and played New York's Madison Square Garden.