She was renowned for playing supporting roles alongside such actors as William Fairbanks and Jack Hoxie.

Florence Ella Gleistein was born to George Gleistein and Maude Kern in Chicago, where she grew up before moving to Los Angeles at the age of 14 (c. 1918) with her brother and mother in the hopes of discovering a career in the film industry.

It was in Los Angeles that she was spotted by Italian actor, director and producer Monty Banks.

[3] In Hollywood she worked for Al Christie and Fox Studios under the stage name of Florence Gilbert, making over 50 film appearances from the 1920s onward, including the first time Stan Laurel and Oliver Hardy appeared together on film, in The Lucky Dog (1921).

She subsequently married Tarzan creator Edgar Rice Burroughs.