Vernon was hired in 1912 by the German Bioscope as an actress. She made her screen debut in 1912 in the
silent film Die Papierspur (The Paper Trail), directed by
Emil Albes. The following year she acted in the Vitascope films
Menschen und Masken (People and Masks) and
Menschen und Masken – 2. Teil (People and Masks Part 2), directed by
Harry Piel. She also worked in other films directed by Piel and collaborated with Max Obal until 1914. Some of her early films are
The Struggle for the Heritage (1912),
The Brown Beast (1914), and
The Iron Cross (1914). In 1914 she founded her own production company, Hedda Vernon Films, in
Berlin and produced her own films for the Hedda Vernon series, including the self-directed
The Yellow Grimace (1914) and ''Hedda Vernon's Stage Sketch'' (1916). She also acted in several
Eiko Film productions until the end of World War I, mainly under the direction of her husband
Hubert Moest, who founded his own production company, Moest Production, in 1919. Vernon wrote the screenplay for two Moest Production films,
The Red Shoes (1917) and
The Dead Secret (1918). She also acted in the company's 1920 silent film
The Women House of Brescia, which was rejected by the
British Board of Film Classification on grounds of
prostitution depicted in the film. In the silent film
Zofia (released 1915), she played the role of a 15-year-old girl, although she was almost 29 years old at the time. In the 1920s, interest in Vernon subsided since new actresses were in demand. She worked from 1920 to 1921 with Harry Piel in the film series
The Headless Horseman. She also took many supporting roles and acted in
The Despisers of Death which appeared in cinemas in 1925. Overall, Vernon acted in 70 silent films from 1912 to 1925. ==Personal life==