A tall (5'10"), gangling woman with a distinctive voice, Wickes would ultimately prove herself adept as a comedian. She attracted attention in "Now, Voyager" (1942) as the wisecracking nurse who helped Bette Davis's character during her mother's illness. (She had already appeared earlier that year with Davis in "The Man Who Came To Dinner", and joined her again six years later in "June Bride"). In 1942, she also had a large part in the Abbott and Costello comedy "Who Done It?" She continued playing supporting roles in films during the next decade, usually playing wisecracking characters. A prime example was her deadpan characterization of the harassed housekeeper in the Doris Day vehicles "On Moonlight Bay" and "By the Light of the Silvery Moon", a character type she would repeat in the holiday classic "White Christmas" (1954), starring Bing Crosby, Danny Kaye, Rosemary Clooney, and Vera-Ellen. She played similar roles in two later movies with Rosalind Russell in the 1960s: "The Trouble with Angels" and "Where Angels Go, Trouble Follows".