The daughter of 'Donald Cole' and Grace (nee Lind), she was educated at Miami Beach High. She studied at the Actors Studio and her first professional appearance was as Penny in Penny Wise in Miami in November 1939. She appeared as Stella in "A Streetcar Named Desire" at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre, New York in December 1947. (She won an Oscar for the reprise of this performance on film in 1951).