In September 1944, 19 year old Bates signed a contract with Universal Pictures after Cecil Coan introduced her to producer Walter Wanger. Soon after, she was cast as one of the "Seven Salome Girls" in the 1945 drama, "Salome Where She Danced" starring Yvonne De Carlo. Around this time, she fell in love with Coan, who was married with two sons and two daughters. In March 1945, Coan divorced his wife Helen Coan and secretly married Bates, on 25 March 1945, in Chihuahua, México. Bates spent the next few years as a stock actress, landing bit parts in movies and doing cheesecake layouts for magazines like "Yank, the Army Weekly" and "Life". It was one of those photo sessions that caught the eye of executives at Warner Bros. who signed her in 1947. Warner Bros. highlighted her "girl-next-door" image and her acting career took off. She appeared with some of the biggest stars of the day including Bette Davis in "June Bride" and Danny Kaye in "The Inspector General".