Began tap dancing at age five (date approximate)

Lied about her age (by adding four years) and landed a seven-year contract with RKO; gained attention with a supporting role in "Stage Door"

Appeared with the Marx Brothers in "Room Service"

Loaned to Columbia for "You Can't Take It With You"

Broadway debut in George White's "Scandals of 1939"

Set a record in the early 1940s for the fastest tap-dancing, producing over 500 tap sounds in one minute

On loan to Republic, co-starred in "Melody Ranch" and "Hit Parade of 1941"

Signed with MGM; first film there, "Easter Parade"

Co-starred in "On the Town"

Played Lois Lane/Bianca in the film version of "Kiss Me Kate"

Last films, "The Opposite Sex" and "The Great American Pastime"

Made frequent appearances in nightclubs and in television variety specials and series throughout the late 1950s and 1960s

Was one of the replacement stars of the Broadway musical, "Mame"; later toured with the show (1970-71)

Made classic Heinz "Great American Soup" commercial written by Stan Freberg

Played Reno Sweeney in a tour of "Anything Goes"

Again toured in "Anything Goes"

Appeared in a tour of the stage comedy "Cactus Flower"

Starred on Broadway in "Sugar Babies"

Toured in "Sugar Babies"

Took "Sugar Babies" to London

Was one of the hosts of the compilation documentary looking back at the MGM movie musical, "That's Entertainment! III"

Played Carlotta Campion in a revival of the Stephen Sondheim-James Goldman musical "Follies" at the Paper Mill Playhouse

Had featured role in the David Lynch-directed pilot "Mulholland Drive"; when ABC passed on series, Lynch shot additional footage and turned project into feature film; screened at Cannes in 2001; released theatrically in USA in 2001