[3] Dudley's professional acting debut resulted from her visiting producer Eddie Dowling in his office and reading some lines for him.

She left his office as the leading lady in Agatha Calling, which made a pre-Broadway tour but never reached Broadway.

[3] Dudley's Broadway credits included The Season Changes (1936),[2] End of Summer, Stick-in-the-Mud,[4] Here Come the Clowns (1939), and My Dear Children (1940).

[6] She had stepped into that role of Barrymore's character's daughter in St. Louis when his wife, Elaine, left the show following a marital dispute.

New York City detectives ruled the incident an attempted suicide after they found a note indicating that she wanted to end her life because she "feared Mr. Kingsley's affection for her had waned.