Her professional debut was in the live television drama
Can You Coffeepot on Skates?, presented in 1956. This was followed by television appearances on
Matinee Theatre and
Alfred Hitchcock Presents and her cinematic debut in
Sweet Smell of Success opposite
Burt Lancaster and
Tony Curtis. Harrison said in 2011 that Kass had introduced her to writer
Clifford Odets which she believed factored into her casting as well as well ans all her training and added of shooting: "Everyone was always there. There were constant, daily around-the-table discussions, revisions, changes. Everyone was welcome to their input. It was the most democratic... and even I was invited and even asked what I thought... it was a good way to work. I'd never seen it done that way." On October 19, 1957, she opened on Broadway at the
Bijou Theater, playing "the Girl" in
William Saroyan's new play
The Cave Dwellers to uniformly good reviews. The following year she was in the
Playhouse 90 production of
In Lonely Expectation, which brought her to the attention of
Rod Serling and led to her role as the ballerina in the iconic
Twilight Zone episode. She had several later television and stage roles, most notably in an episode of the television show
Bonanza, "Dark Star" in the first season, episode 31 (1960). In 1960 she played Ruby, the female lead, in the little-seen film
Key Witness with
Jeffrey Hunter and
Dennis Hopper. ==Personal life==