She trained as an actress at the American Laboratory Theater, then did some work in stock. In 1931 she debuted on Broadway; during the '0s she appeared in one film, the screen version of a play in which she had appeared, Double Door (1934). In 1940 she moved to Hollywood and for a decade she appeared as a character actress in many major films; she was nominated three times for Oscars, and won a Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her work in National Velvet (1945).