Discovery, in the Hollywood sense, came when she starred in a play with James Drury. Film director Mark Robson, who later directed her in the movie "From the Terrace", had come to the play and wanted her for 20th Century Fox studios. Her screen test was the Joanne Woodward role in "No Down Payment" (1957). Though she did not get the role, the studio gave her a contract. She did a screen test for the role of Betty Anderson in the 1957 film version of "Peyton Place", but Terry Moore got the role. She had minor roles in "Bailout at 43,000"; "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?"; and "The Wayward Girl", then became a leading lady in films, starring opposite Gary Crosby, Barry Coe, and Sal Mineo in "A Private's Affair". She had a co-starring role in "Flaming Star" (1960), with Elvis Presley.