She was "discovered" at Jackson Hole, Wyoming, while on vacation with her
parents. Director
Gordon Douglas, who was shooting the film,
The Charge at Feather River (1953), at a nearby location, saw her at a lodge's dining room and asked if he could use her in his movie. Her parents declined, saying they had to be traveling on, but they accepted Douglas's card
and later gave him a call upon their return to California.