After graduating from high school, she sent a letter and a photograph to director Mack Sennett expressing her desire to be an actress.

Between 1921 and 1922 she used the name Elinor Lynn in several short films directed by Jack White, co-starring with Lige Conley and Jimmie Adams.

Mary of the Movies was a box office success and Mack went on to leading roles in the action/crime-drama One of the Bravest (1925) and the drama Carnival Girl (1926).

In 1926 she was cast in her best known role as Annabelle Lee, the estranged girlfriend of Buster Keaton's character, Johnnie Gray, in the American Civil War comedy film The General.

[7] The couple also owned an estate in Beverly Hills and continued to socialize with people whom they met when they worked in the film industry, including Rudy Vallee and Clara Bow.

[4] In 1970, due to renewed interest in The General, film historian Raymond Rohauer tracked Mack down at her Costa Mesa home.

[4] Mack met producer Lewis Lewyn after winning a beauty contest at the Thomas H. Ince Studios.

[7] After a private funeral, Mack was buried in Pacific View Memorial Park in Corona del Mar, Newport Beach.