The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Gulliver,[1] she was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, in 1908 and was raised as a Mormon.

After she won the Miss Salt Lake City beauty contest in 1924, a scout for Paramount sought to have her go to Hollywood, but her mother opposed that plan.

[3] Gulliver's early work at Universal included two short films and two serials, The Winking Idol (1926) and Strings of Steel (1926).

With the beginning of sound films, she became a popular heroine in 1930s "cliffhangers", including The Galloping Ghost, Phantom of the West, The Shadow of the Eagle, The Last Frontier, and 1936's Custer's Last Stand.

Her costars were often Rex Lease, Tim McCoy, Jack Hoxie, and Wild Bill Elliott.