She worked with a number of companies on the Pacific coast and then began her career in the silent film.

The main highlights of her career are The Strange Story of Sylvia Gray (1914), by Vitagraph, The Road o'Strife in 1915 by the Lubin Manufacturing Company, Satan's Private Door in 1917 by the Essanay Film Manufacturing Company and Upstairs and Down (1919), by the Selznick Pictures Corporation.

[2][3] Patricia Walthall later had some small film roles but she married an engineer from Buenos Aires and left the industry.

[4] After the Western Human Stuff in 1920 by Universal Pictures, Charleson left acting to focus on her husband's business and became one of the forgotten stars of the silent era.

[2][5] Mary Charleson died in Los Angeles, California on 3 December 1961 and was buried in Holy Cross Cemetery in Hollywood.