Actress. She is best remembered for portrayals of housewives, maids, secretaries, old maids, eccentrics, and matriarchs in over 30 motion pictures between 1917 and 1951. Born Polly Van, she began her career performing in local theatre and church functions until she moved from her native Pennsylvania to California in 1915 to live with her sister and brother-in-law following the passing of her parents. After taking a studio tour one day in 1917, she was taken notice by Oliver Hardy while dining in a commissary and was offered a role in his film serial "Back Stage" (1917). Starting from there, and taking her sisters married surname for her acting name, she went on to enjoy a successful career as a versatile character actress appearing in such films as "Wedding Bells" (1921), "The Cat and The Fiddle" (1934), "The Thin Man" (1934), "Riffraff" (1936), "Trouble at Midnight" (1937), "The Housekeepers Daughter" (1939), "Young Tom Edison" (1940), "Spring Parade" (1940), "Kitty Foyle" (1940), "They All Kissed The Bride" (1942), "Young Ideas" (1943), "None But The Lonely Heart" (1944), "Bringing Up Father" (1946), "The Locket" (1946), "The Sea of Grass" (1947), "My Brother Talks to Horses" (1947), "The Snake Pit" (1948), "Letter from an Unknown Woman" (1948), "The Stratton Story" (1949), "Harvey" (1950), and "Excuse My Dust" (1951). She also appeared in several guest spots on several well-known radio programs of the era such as "Lux Radio Theatre", "The Life of Riley", "Blondie", "Suspense", "Meet Corliss Archer", "Inner Sanctum Mysteries", "The Great Gildersleeve", "Fibber McGee and Molly", and "Screen Directors Playhouse". In 1951, she retired from acting to focus on her family and was active with Catholic Charities.