[6] At age thirteen, she was signed to a seven-year film contract.

[7] Her first acting role was a minor part in Mad About Music with Deanna Durbin, though her scenes were ultimately cut from the film.

Her debut role was as Berta Hubbard, sister of Mabel Gardiner Hubbard, in Irving Cummings's 1939 biographical film The Story of Alexander Graham Bell, opposite her half-sisters Loretta (as Mabel), Sally and Polly Ann.

[8] She would later have bit parts in two other films: No, No, Nanette (1940) and Border Incident (1949), the latter of which starred her husband, actor Ricardo Montalbán, whom she married in 1944.

[9] After seeing her performance in The Story of Alexander Graham Bell (1939), 18-year-old Ricardo Montalbán – who split his time between his schooling in Los Angeles (living with his brother) and working in his father's store in Torreón, Mexico – became enamored of the 15-year-old Young.