The Brooklyn Daily Eagle said that she was "an international vaudeville headliner and has also won fame on the formal concert stage.
[4] Early in her career, Eley sang prima donna roles in productions under a four-year contract with the Gordon and North Amusement Company.
[3] Eley and her husband, Sam Hearn, performed in major American cities and in "all the big capitals of Europe".
[2] One of their sketches, "Wanted, an Angel" (1915), had Hearn as a "type of dandified German" and Eley as a "very good looking red head".
[8] The sketch included dialog, a solo sung by Eley, Hearn playing a violin, and a duet by the pair.
[13] The Wheeling Intelligencer called Eley "the most lovable of all prima donnas, superlatively sweet-voiced, beautiful" and added that she "possesses that magnetism that is comparable to that of an enchantress.
"[14] A review of a 1926 vaudeville performance in the trade publication Variety said that Eley, "a real big-league singing comedienne with unusually good, bright material, whammed them".