Austrian-born American actress, born in Vienna, Austria, to Jewish parents. In order to avoid persecution by the Nazi administration, she escaped to Paris in 1937. The family settled in America a few years later. She majored in English and received her degree from the University of California in 1949. Director Mark Robson discovered her and cast her in his film Youth Runs Wild (1944). She is known for The Late George Apley (1947), Big Jack (1949), The Fighter (1952), and Charleston. (1979).