[citation needed] Orphaned when she was four years old, Maris lived with her grandmother in France and was educated in a convent there,[4][5] as well as in England and Germany.

[4] In the April 1930 issue of Picture Play magazine, William H. McKegg wrote that Maris "has assimilated much from each country [in which she has lived]—cynical frankness of the French, the simplicity of the Germans—the romanticism of the Italians, and the independence of the English.

"[6] Maris' ambition to become an actress originated during World War I, when she was a student in Luders, France.

She and her classmates wrote, directed, and presented short plays to entertain soldiers billeted near the school.

The Argentine ambassador in Berlin received a letter which led to Maris being introduced to the President of the United Film Association.

Maris' screen debut was in the German film Los Esclavos del Volga, directed by Richard Eichberg.

Spanish, French, and German came easily for her, but in the early years of sounds films, her English was almost unintelligible.

[a] From 1931 to 1941, she starred in 19 Spanish-language versions of successful American pictures, which were produced by the Fox Film Company.