[2] Her mother was active in the suffrage movement and her (step) grandfather, Frank E. Moores,[3] was a controversial Mayor of Omaha.

[5] She was raised in Seattle,[6] and graduated from Broadway High School[7] and attended the University of Washington.

[8] Moores acted on the stage,[9] beginning in college, and later mainly in Boston[10] and on Broadway, with stage credits including roles in Madame X, Under Cover,[8] A Cure for Curables (1918),[11] His Majesty Bunker Bean, Dangerous Years,[12] Lilies of the Field, Shavings (1920), Pot Luck (1921),[13] Common Clay, Cobra (1924) and The Circle.

[19] In 1920, she wrote a beauty advice column on attractive arms, for newspaper syndication.

[20][21] During World War II, Moores (by then named Payson) organized vaudeville-style entertainments for enlisted men stationed in the Seattle area.