Actress. She is best remembered for her portrayal of the straightlaced Miss Raymond in "The Shrike" (1955). Born Mabel Baruch, she was raised within a family of wealth and position. While attending the Professional Children's School, she made her stage debut at age 17 appearing as a leading lady in stock companies. While attending a studio tour in California, she was discovered by actress Ethel Barrymore while dining in a commissary. Impressed by her dark good looks, slim physique, and wisdom beyond her years, she took notice of her potential and arranged for her to begin a career in the film industry beginning with her appearing alongside her in a supporting role in "Rasputin and the Empress" (1932). From there, she would go on to flourish as a notable character actress appearing in over 125 features; often typecast as wives, mothers, old maids, wealthy widows, secretaries, nannies, educators, nurses, manicurists, salesladies, businesswomen, busybodies, landladies, eccentrics, white-collared workers, curmudgeons, neighbors, clergywomen, historical or literary figures, stewardesses, housekeepers, telephone operators, hairdressers, dowagers, jurors, doctors, columnists, librarians, and matriarchs. She appeared in such feature films as "Only Yesterday" (1933), "Madame Spy" (1934), "Millions in the Air" (1935), "F-Man" (1936), "Gentleman's Agreement" (1947), "For the Love of Mary" (1948), "Payment on Demand" (1951), "The Sniper" (1952), "Inferno" (1953), "Count Three and Pray" (1955), "The Great Man" (1956), "The Sound and The Fury" (1959), "This Rebel Breed" (1960), "Walk on the Wild Side" (1962), "The Wheeler Dealers" (1963), "Kisses for My President" (1964), and "Airport" (1970). On television, she appeared in numerous guest spots on such syndicated sitcoms as "The Ford Television Theatre," "Racket Squad," "Crown Theatre with Gloria Swanson," "Mr. & Mrs. North," "The Unexpected," "The Bigelow Theatre," "Dragnet," "The Life of Riley," "Waterfront," "I Led 3 Lives," "The Man Behind the Badge," "Public Defender," "Medic," "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show," "Crossroads," "General Electric Theatre," "The Count of Monte Cristo," "Schlitz Playhouse," "Broken Arrow," "The Walter Winchell File," "Matinee Theatre," "Perry Mason," "Father Knows Best," "Trackdown," "Overland Trail," "Mike Hammer," "The Lineup," "Riverboat," "Rescue 8," "The Roaring 20's," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Hawaiian Eye," "Grand Jury," "The Tom Ewell Show," "Cain's Hundred," "Bus Stop," "Ben Casey," "The Untouchables," "77 Sunset Strip," "Hennesey," "The Twilight Zone," "Cheyenne," "Going My Way," "Dennis the Menace," "Sam Benedict," "Wagon Train," "Dr. Kildare," "Rawhide," "My Three Sons," "The Virginian," "Bonanza," "Hank," "The Man from U.N.C.L.E.," "Mr. Novak," "Judd for the Defense," "Family Affair," "Ironside," "The Name of the Game," "Kung Fu," "Banyon," "Marcus Welby, M.D.," "The Rookies," "Cannon," "The Rockford Files," "Barnaby Jones," and "The Waltons." During her career, she was a member of the Screen Actors Guild, was supportive of the Motion Picture and Television Fund, had been a member of the Hollywood Democratic Committee, was a regular parishioner of the Methodist church, presided as a chairwoman for her local charters of the American Red Cross and the Boys & Girls Clubs, had been a theatrical instructor for the Pasadena Playhouse, sat on the board of directors for the Cleveland Playhouse, had been the creator of the Players Production Company, was among the founding members of the Canyon Theatre Guild, and she was married to fellow character actors Whit Bissell from 1938 to 1954 and Wendell Holmes from 1956 to 1962 (both unions ended in divorce and from her marriage to Bissell she produced two children).