She became an actress after her family fortune was lost in the Wall Street crash of 1929, and appeared in the Broadway productions Lombardi Ltd. and Sweet Adeline.

The majority of her roles were in comedies but she also appeared in dramas such as Boom Town (1940) in which she played a dance hall singer who is briefly romanced by Clark Gable.

She played secondary roles in three Lupe Vélez "Mexican Spitfire" films in the early 1940s, and was a comic foil for the Marx Brothers in The Big Store, where the back of her skirt is cut away by Harpo.

She also appeared in The Big Street (1942) with Lucille Ball, in the western The Woman of the Town with Claire Trevor and in The Great Mike at PRC in 1944.

Married to a physicist, Martin retired, and although she expressed the desire to return to show business, suitable roles were not offered to her.