She came to Hollywood with her father on a business trip, and was asked to try out for a role in Harold Lloyd's Beverly Hills Little Theatre for Professionals production where Gregory La Cava saw her perform.

Her next role came at Warner Bros. Studios playing Spring Byington's daughter in Jezebel (1938) opposite the likes of George Brent, Bette Davis, and Fay Bainter.

She was good friends with Cheryl Walker, Mickey Rooney,[10] Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers, Katharine Hepburn, Laraine Day, Henry Fonda, Cary Grant, Joel McCrea, and Dennis Morgan.

On November 29, 2000, Margaret Early died at her home in Laguna Beach, California,[2] from congestive heart failure at age 80.

She is interred at Pacific View Memorial Park, Bayview Terrace, Lot 9F, in Corona del Mar, California.