Talent-spotted in her teens, Hylton was a product of the
Rank Organisation's
Company of Youth (more commonly referred to as the Rank Charm School), which took promising young actors and groomed them for a career in film. The programme turned out some genuine stars such as
Dirk Bogarde and
Diana Dors, but most alumni only had modest film careers, regularly employed in British films but rarely if ever receiving star-billing. Female graduates of the programme were often referred to somewhat disparagingly as "Rank Starlets", with the implication that their purpose was merely to appear on screen and look glamorous; however, Hylton did feature in substantial acting roles with prominent billing. Hylton's first screen appearance came in a 1946 programmer
A Girl in a Million. She quickly moved on to minor roles in films produced by
Gainsborough Studios (
Jassy,
When the Bough Breaks) and
Ealing Studios (
Holiday Camp,
It Always Rains on Sunday), then in 1948 landed her largest role to that time, as an escaped convict's mistress in Gainsborough's ''
My Brother's Keeper''. In the early 1950s, Hylton was cast in major roles in several films with a predominantly female cast and targeted at female audiences;
Dance Hall (1950),
It Started in Paradise (1952 – set in the world of
haute couture) and 1954 women's prison drama
The Weak and the Wicked. The quality of film roles offered to her then began to fall and she found herself for the rest of the decade toiling mainly in quickly-shot
B-films, an exception being a prominent role in the 1960 horror film
Circus of Horrors. Hylton's first television appearance was in the starring role of Queen Guinevere in the 1956 series
The Adventures of Sir Lancelot and from the early 1960s she spent her career entirely in television, where she featured in a number of one-off productions for BBC and ITV drama strands as well as appearing in series such as
Dixon of Dock Green,
Journey to the Unknown,
The Troubleshooters and
Take Three Girls. Her most identifiable TV role was Beryl Fisher, the mother of Betty Spencer (
Michele Dotrice) in the BBC comedy series ''
Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em''. ==Critical assessment==