Hughes was born in Los Angeles, California. She originally hoped to be a dancer, but health issues requiring two operations during her early years prevented this. In 1935 she auditioned for and received a part in
Broadway Melody of 1936 which involved dancing. The film featured Jack Benny and Robert Taylor. Her first speaking role was in
After the Dance (1936). While shooting on location in Sonora, California, she met her future husband, who worked as a still photographer for MGM. In 1936, Hughes was signed to a contract with
Republic Pictures, where she received leading roles. Although she was only with the studio for six months, she starred in several
B Westerns and two of the studio's famed serials. She starred in the first two films of the popular
The Three Mesquiteers series—
The Three Mesquiteers (1936) and
Ghost-Town Gold (1936)—which launched an entire subgenre of Western movies. She was also the female lead in Republic's third serial,
The Vigilantes Are Coming (1936) with
Robert Livingston. however, she ended up doing the same type of work, starring in another serial
Radio Patrol (1937) and the film
Trouble at Midnight (1938). After a break of two years, she signed a contract with
Columbia Pictures and appeared in the Western film
Riders of the Badlands (1941). She was pregnant with her daughter during the 1940 filming. After taking off a few years, she made a brief comeback in 1945 appearing with
Tex Ritter in
Enemy of the Law under the name Ruby Martin. Her final screen appearance was in the 1945
Buster Crabbe Western
Fighting Bill Carson, after which she decided to retire from films and raise her family. Hughes was married three times. She married for the first time in the 1940s and the couple had two children. Her first child, a daughter, was born in 1941. They were divorced in 1947. Hughes married her second husband in 1947 and moved with him to
St. Louis, Missouri and then later to
Tulsa, Oklahoma. They remained married until his death in 1964. Hughes married her third husband in 1964 and they traveled together throughout the United States, eventually moving to
Reno, Nevada. After he died, she moved to
Desert Hot Springs, California, to live near her sister Lois. After undergoing heart surgery in December 1997, Hughes died on April 4, 1998, in
Palm Springs, California. ==Filmography==