She started her career at a young age, participating in beauty pageants and gaining attention as "The Queen of Coney Island" and "Miss New York State."

She ventured into show business by debuting in George White's Scandals of 1939 and landed roles in Broadway productions and Hollywood films.

McDonald earned the nickname "The Body" for her attractive figure and became a popular pin-up girl during World War II.

McDonald reported being abducted by two men who demanded a ransom, but the police found inconsistencies in her story, leading to no conclusive evidence or charges.

[2] That year, she appeared in three motion pictures, most notably, Pardon My Sarong, which earned her the nickname "The Body" for her shapely physique.

The following year, she was lent to Republic Pictures, where she co-starred in A Scream in the Dark, a "B" detective mystery that met with reasonable success.

[2] During World War II, McDonald became one of Hollywood's most popular pin-up girls and posed for the United States military magazine Yank.

Her next starring role came when she worked for independent producer Edward Small as the title character in the 1945 screwball comedy Getting Gertie's Garter.

For the remainder of the 1950s, she focused on theatre and music, recording The Body Sings, an LP for RCA Victor in 1957, backed by Hal Borne and His Orchestra, which consisted of 12 standard ballads.

She returned to the screen in 1958 when she was cast as actress Lola Livingston in The Geisha Boy, a slapstick comedy with Jerry Lewis.

[13] They separated in March 1956 and, in May, Karl filed for divorce claiming that McDonald had beat him, causing him "grievous mental suffering".

[citation needed] During her final separation from Karl, McDonald began dating George Capri, one of the owners of the Flamingo Las Vegas.

[19] On June 12, 1958, Capri accompanied McDonald to the hospital after she accidentally overdosed on sleeping pills while the two were staying in Las Vegas.

On September 17, 1962, Callahan filed suit in Los Angeles asking for a divorce from McDonald for mental cruelty or that the marriage be annulled due to fraud.

Later, McDonald's estranged husband, Harry Karl, also received a call from a male who sounded "like a nervous young kid", warning against contacting the authorities if he wanted to see her alive.

[26] McDonald claimed that she had been taken to another location, where she managed to make three phone calls to her agent, Harold Plant, actor Michael Wilding (whom she was dating), and columnist Harrison Carroll.

She recounted to police that two abductors had brandished a sawed-off gun with threats to shoot her children, taken some jewelry, and discussed a $30,000 ransom.

[27][28][29] After a medical examination, doubts arose about the veracity of McDonald's story, as her injuries, including two cracked teeth and bruises on her face,[29] did not align with the assault she described.

Those doubts deepened when police found suspicious evidence at her home, including newspapers used in the construction of the note in her fireplace.

[27] After investigating the alleged kidnapping, police admitted that they could find no conclusive evidence that the event took place due to "perplexing discrepancies".

[27] On October 21, 1965, McDonald's sixth husband, Donald F. Taylor, found her slumped over her dressing table in their home in Hidden Hills, California.

On May 4, 1967, McDonald's father Evertt "Ed" Frye died by a self-inflicted gunshot to the head in the garage of his home in New Smyrna Beach, Florida.