After moving to
New York, Love joined the recently formed
Actors Studio. Her debut on television came in the studio's
Actors Studio series; her Broadway and big screen bows, the year after that, as, respectively,
Julie Harris's understudy in the stage adaptation of
The Member of the Wedding, and, an uncredited performer in the film
So Young So Bad. Throughout the 1950s she acted in
Broadway productions and the occasional film. Her Broadway credits include
A Distant Bell (1959),
Flowering Cherry (1959),
The Egghead (1957),
The Rose Tattoo (1950), and
The Country Girl (1950). She won the
Clarence Derwent Award in 1951 for her role in
The Rose Tattoo. That role also brought her a
Donaldson Award for Best Supporting Performance (Actress) for 1950–1951. She played Mattie Birdwell in the film
Friendly Persuasion (1956), and
Dick Clark's pregnant wife in
The Young Doctors (1961). On television, she appeared principally in guest roles from 1950 until her retirement in the early 1970s. Among her roles were two guest appearances on
Perry Mason, both times as the defendant, as Ellen Carter in the 1962 episode "The Case of the Bogus Books", and the part of Minerva Doubleday in the 1964 episode "The Case of the Wooden Nickels". In 1961 she played Dot the waitress in season 4 episode 17 and 18 of
Have Gun - Will Travel, and in 1962 she played Mrs. Lucas in the 3rd-season episode "
Four O'Clock" in
The Twilight Zone. In 1964 she played Jennifer May in the episode "Doctor's Wife" in the TV series
Gunsmoke. In 1965 she played Lieutenant Jenkins in Season 1, Episode 19 "Faith, Hope and Sergeant Aronson" in the TV series ''
12 O'Clock High''. For 15 years, ==Personal life==