Bates was the second child born to Jewish immigrant parents, Rosa and Sigmund Rabe,[3] in San Antonio, Texas, where her father was the owner of an antique store.

[5] After the death of her parents, Bates left the legal profession to help her sister operate their father's antique business.

In 1929, following the stock market crash and the death of her sister, Florence closed the antique shop and married a wealthy businessman, William F. Jacoby.

Among her cinema credits are Kitty Foyle, Love Crazy, The Moon and Sixpence, Mr. Lucky, Heaven Can Wait, Lullaby of Broadway, Mister Big, Since You Went Away, Kismet, Saratoga Trunk, The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, Winter Meeting, I Remember Mama, Portrait of Jennie, A Letter to Three Wives, On the Town, and Les Misérables.

In television, Bates had a regular role on The Hank McCune Show and made guest appearances on I Love Lucy, My Little Margie, I Married Joan [7] and Our Miss Brooks.