"My father's business took him to India when I was a baby," she said, "Then we went to France, and when I was 7 years old I was thrust into a French boarding school.

"[3] Cordell went on to appear on Broadway in Love of Women (1937), Romantic Mr. Dickens (1940), Golden Wings (1941), Yesterday's Magic (1942), Sheppey (1944), While the Sun Shines (1944), and The Linden Tree (1948).

")[5] She starred in Gaslight (1940) with Anton Walbrook, as Nancy, the housemaid, a role that later launched Angela Lansbury into stardom in the American remake four years later.

[5] Cordell appeared in two episodes of Perry Mason and Family Affair, and three times in Dragnet 1967, starring Jack Webb.

In 1970 she played Mrs. Beamish in “The Housekeeper” - Season 1 / Episode 1 of Rod Serling's, American anthology television series, Night Gallery.