While on a summer break from her studies at Pittsburgh's Peabody High School, she was sent to New York by her parents to visit her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Emma Imhoff, and was noticed as she spontaneously danced in the wings to the music of a Ted Lewis show rehearsal, having been invited to that rehearsal by a friend. Recruited by the show's director, she was subsequently chaperoned by her grandmother, who accompanied her as she toured with the Lewis show chorus.
While on a summer break from her studies at Pittsburgh's Peabody High School, she was dispatched to New York by her parents to visit her maternal grandmother, Mrs. Emma Imhoff, and was spotted spontaneously dancing in the wings during a Ted Lewis show rehearsal, having been invited by a friend. The director recruited her for the show, and she was subsequently escorted by her grandmother as she toured with the Lewis show chorus.