Miles moved to Los Angeles in 1948 and landed small roles in television and film, including a minor role as a chorus girl in
Two Tickets to Broadway (1951), a musical starring
Janet Leigh, with whom Miles would co-star nine years later in the classic
Alfred Hitchcock film
Psycho. She used her first husband's name, Miles, because there already was a
Vera Ralston film actress. Miles eventually was put under contract at various studios. She once recalled, "I was dropped by the best studios in town." '' (1957) Miles's first credited film appearance was in
The Rose Bowl Story (1952), a romantic comedy in which she played a
Tournament of Roses queen.
Suzanne Finstad wrote in
Natasha: The Biography of Natalie Wood about Miles's experience in the movie: While under contract to
Warner Bros., Miles was cast alongside her future husband
Gordon Scott in the 1955 film ''
Tarzan's Hidden Jungle'' as Tarzan's love interest. The following year, she was cast by director
John Ford as
Jeffrey Hunter's love interest in the
John Wayne Western The Searchers (1956), and appeared in the movies
Wichita, directed by
Jacques Tourneur and
23 Paces to Baker Street with
Van Johnson. Also in 1956, Miles starred as Rose Balestrero, the fragile wife of Manny Balestrero, a musician falsely accused of a crime and played by
Henry Fonda, in the film
The Wrong Man. The movie was directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and is one of only a few Hitchcock films based on real-life events. Signing a five-year personal contract with Hitchcock in 1957, Two years prior, Hitchcock had directed Miles in the role of
Ralph Meeker's emotionally troubled new bride in "Revenge", the pilot episode of his television series
Alfred Hitchcock Presents.
Vertigo (1958), a project Hitchcock designed as a showcase for his new star, was met with production delays. Miles's subsequent pregnancy would cost her the lead role, which eventually went to
Kim Novak.
Vertigo (which also starred
James Stewart) was not a financial or critical success at the time, with Hitchcock claiming that Novak was miscast. Despite Hitchcock's disappointment regarding
Vertigo, he continued to work with Miles, eventually casting her in what is arguably the role for which she is most remembered, that of
Lila Crane in
Psycho. In the film, she portrayed the determined sister of the doomed motel guest Marion Crane (
Janet Leigh), who teams up with Marion's boyfriend and a private investigator to find her. After Pat Hitchcock's death in 2021, Miles became the last surviving cast member of the film. She later appeared in two episodes of
The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (in 1962 and 1965). In 1962, Miles reunited with director John Ford for the film
The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance. Starring alongside her former co-star from
The Searchers,
John Wayne, she is courted by both Wayne and James Stewart, two very different men competing for her hand in marriage. Other notable films in which Miles appeared included the
Walt Disney film
Follow Me, Boys! (1966) with
Fred MacMurray. In
Hellfighters (1968), she played
Katharine Ross's mother, although she is only nine years Ross's senior. The film also reunited her with John Wayne. Miles had filmed scenes with Wayne for the movie
The Green Berets (also 1968), playing Wayne's character's wife. However, with Warner Bros. wanting more action in the film, her scenes were cut. Miles continued to appear in numerous TV films and TV series during the 1970s, including the pilot for the TV series
Cannon (broadcast in March 1971) as the wife of a deceased war comrade of private investigator Frank Cannon's, played by
William Conrad. Miles also appeared on the pilot of
Hollywood Squares in 1966. She guest-starred in a further two episodes of the series in different roles during its run. In 1973, she appeared alongside
Peter Falk in "Lovely but Lethal", an episode of NBC's
Columbo, playing a cosmetics queen who commits murder. She also made guest appearances in episodes of
Hawaii Five-O,
The Streets of San Francisco, and
Fantasy Island. In 1983, more than 20 years after
Psycho, Miles reprised the role of Lila Crane in
Psycho II, joining
Anthony Perkins in the sequel. Miles and Perkins were the only stars of the original film to appear in this second installment. Miles continued to appear in a number of TV and film productions during the 1980s, with appearances in the movies
The Initiation (1984) and
Into the Night (1985), and guest-starring in episodes of the TV series
The Love Boat (1982 and 1984) and
Hotel (1984 and 1987). She appeared in three episodes of
Murder, She Wrote (broadcast in 1985, 1990, and 1991). The 1991 episode, titled "Thursday's Child", was her final television role. Her last acting role was in the film
Separate Lives (1995). She then retired from the industry. ==Personal life==