Bruce's first screen work was in 1929 as an extra for
Paramount in
Why Bring That Up? In 1930, she appeared on Broadway in the musical
Smiles at the
Ziegfeld Theatre, followed by the Broadway production ''
America's Sweetheart'' in 1931. Bruce returned to Hollywood in 1932, where she began work in early August at
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer on the film
Kongo starring
Walter Huston. During production on that project, on August 10, she married
John Gilbert (her first, his fourth) with whom she recently costarred in
Downstairs.
The Film Daily reported that the couple's "quick" wedding was held in Gilbert's dressing room on the studio lot. Among the people attending the small ceremony were the head of MGM production
Irving Thalberg, who served as the groom's best man; screenwriter
Donald Ogden Stewart, whose wife Beatrice acted as matron of honor; MGM art director and set designer
Cedric Gibbons; and his wife, actress
Dolores del Río. Gilbert died of a heart attack in 1936. for
The Great Ziegfeld (1936) Bruce is credited with introducing the
Cole Porter standard "
I've Got You Under My Skin" in the 1936 film
Born to Dance. The same year, she costarred in the MGM musical
The Great Ziegfeld. She also performed periodically on radio. In 1949, for example, Bruce starred in
Make Believe Town, a 30-minute afternoon drama broadcast daily on CBS Radio. In the early 1960s, she retired from films. ==Personal life==