[1] Her mother, who used the stage name "Mae Evelynne", was the daughter of lawyer and adventurer John Templeton McCarty.

She briefly attended Snell Seminary in Oakland, California, but soon joined her mother on the vaudeville stage, at first in child roles, as "Pearl Evelynne".

[3][4] Pearl Sindelar starred on stage[5] in the musical The Girl in the Taxi (1910) before she started in silent films.

[7] She was active in union organizing in the New York theatre professions, and participated in the Actors' Equity strike of 1919.

She and her husband joined Ballard's congregation in Los Angeles, and taught classes on "divine ascension" and other topics.