Brown began acting on the stage in California. In 1922, she had leading roles in
Oliver Morosco's productions ''Wait Till We're Married
and Abie's Irish Rose. She went on to act in Broadway plays such as Relations
(1928), Mother Lode
(1934), Play, Genius, Play!
(1935), Behind Red Lights
(1937), Sun Kissed
(1937), Our Town (1938), and Liberty Jones'' (1941). Brown began appearing in films in the early 1940s. She played Mrs. Delfina Acuña, the mother of
Rita Hayworth's character, in
You Were Never Lovelier (1942), starring
Fred Astaire and Hayworth. In 1944, she was cast in
Janie and
Hollywood Canteen. She and
Ray Collins played
Ma and Pa Kettle's in-laws in the comedies
Ma and Pa Kettle Back on the Farm (1951) and
Ma and Pa Kettle on Vacation (1953). She had a supporting role in the
Abbott and Costello comedy
Jack and the Beanstalk (1952). ==Personal life and death==