Actress. She was the perky star of MGM musicals in the 1940s and a stalwart of show business for more than six decades. She made her screen debut in the 1936 Charlie Chaplin film "Modern Times" and later signed with MGM film studios. While with MGM, she appeared in a number of top films with leading stars, including "Thousands Cheer" (1943) with Gene Kelly, "Two Girls and a Sailor" (1944) with June Allyson and Van Johnson, "Step Lively" (1944) with Frank Sinatra, "Summer Holiday" (1948) with Mickey Rooney, "The Doctor and the Girl" (1949) with Glenn Ford and Nancy Reagan, "Two Tickets to Broadway" (1951) with Janet Leigh and Tony Martin, and "The Girl Rush" (1955) with Rosalind Russell. In the film "Three Little Words" (1950), a biography of Tin Pan Alley songwriters Bert Kalmar and Harry Ruby, she played her real-life mother, vaudeville star Flora Parker. She sang the 1920s tearjerker "Who's Sorry Now?" in the film. She also appeared in such films as "Best Foot Forward" (1943), "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby" (1949), "Summer Stock" (1950), "Down Among the Sheltering Palms" (1953), "So This Is Paris" (1954), "Won Ton Ton: The Dog Who Saved Hollywood" (1976) and "Bog" (1979). Her last movie appearance came as a lovely widow and romantic interest of Jack Lemmon's character on the cruise-ship set "Out to Sea" (1997). She played many guest-starring roles on TV, beginning in the early days of live TV and on such shows as "Robert Montgomery Presents," "The Rifleman," "The Defenders," "Burke's Law," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "Wagon Train" and "Gunsmoke". Later in her career, she appeared on such television shows as "Fantasy Island," "Quincy M.E.," "The Love Boat," "Highway to Heaven," "Murder, She Wrote" and "Touched by an Angel." She also sang with different bands and as a nightclub act during her long career. She was once married to actor John Payne, but it ended in divorce.