[7] According to Yvonne de Carlo, Walker, "the good natured but tough talking starlet," took Gail Russell "under her wing and introduced her to the tranquilizing benefits of vodka" when they were both under contract to Paramount.

Walker had just finished filming Her Adventurous Night (1946) and was set to begin Heaven Only Knows[1] when an auto accident drastically disrupted her career.

On December 31, 1946,[2] while driving a convertible coupe[9] belonging to director Bruce "Lucky" Humberstone from Palm Springs to Hollywood on U.S. Route 99,[9] she picked up three hitchhikers: first, a soldier named Robert E. Lee, and later 18-year-old students Philip Mercado and Joseph Montalde.

[10] Near Redlands, California, the car slid off the road into a dirt division strip and rolled for more than 300 feet, flipping over as many as seven times and ejecting all four passengers.

Despite the accident and her legal troubles, Walker continued to act, and she appeared in perhaps her most famous role as the duplicitous psychoanalyst in the original version of Nightmare Alley (1947) with Tyrone Power.

She also took prominent roles in films such as Call Northside 777 (1948) with James Stewart, My Dear Secretary (1948) with Kirk Douglas and Impact (1949) with Brian Donlevy.