The daughter of an industrial designer and a former minor actress, she began performing on the stage at age nine with the Pasadena Community Playhouse and later participated in Hollywood High School dramatics. After some experience in stock she made her Broadway debut as Gloria Hallward in 1943 and was signed to a film contract by MGM the following year. But it was not until the early 50s that she made her mark on Hollywood as a sensuous, sultry leading lady whose seductive voice, pouting lips, and inviting looks were perfectly suited to her typical role as a fallen woman or erring wife. She won an Academy Award as best supporting actress for her portrayal of a tramp in The Bad and the Beautiful (1952) and played a number of other meaty parts in the next four years. After that her roles diminished and her Hollywood career gradually declined; by the end of the decade she had retired from the screen. She later returned to films, mainly in low-budget productions.