In her teens, La Plante stayed with Mary MacMahon, her cousin, in Hollywood during a summer vacation and replied to a newspaper ad asking for children for moving pictures, and she was hired.

[2] After this, La Plante's mother started to lose her hearing, and her cousin Mary convinced her to try more work in motion pictures to earn money for the family.

Her early films include Big Town Round-Up (1921), with cowboy star Tom Mix, the serials Perils of the Yukon (1922), Around the World in Eighteen Days (1923),[5] and several movies with Hoot Gibson.

In her mid-20s, La Plante was a natural and appealing presence in early sound films, but the huge wave of new stars in these years overshadowed her.

The company had faced criticism for the low quality of its "quota quickies", and her arrival coincided with an attempt to make expensive productions.

[citation needed] On June 3, 1954 (Season 4 Episode 38), La Plante made a guest appearance (as herself, Mrs. Laura Asher) on Groucho Marx's quiz show You Bet Your Life.

[13] La Plante was cremated by Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery in North Hollywood, California, and her ashes scattered at sea.