)[1] After performing with the Follies, Long appeared in the 1922 edition of the New York City revue George White's Scandals.

Long's first film experience came when Jesse Lasky secured fourteen of the prettiest women for parts in his The Dressmaker from Paris (1925).

[2] Rudolph Valentino picked Long to play the leading female role in The Hooded Falcon.

In 1926, Long signed a five-year contract with A. H. Sebastian, Hollywood producer and executive head of Sebastian-Belasco Productions.

She was selected as one of the WAMPAS Baby Stars of 1926 along with Joan Crawford, Fay Wray, Mary Brian, Joyce Compton, and eight others.

She resided for a time with her mother in a large Spanish-style house at 628 Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California.