After a promising start in Hollywood, Walker was involved in a 1947 car wreck. A hitchhiker was killed, while Walker and two others were seriously injured. She was charged with drunk and reckless driving. She was subsequently acquitted and made a comeback, but her career never fully recovered. Her final big-screen appearance was in Joseph H. Lewis's film noir "The Big Combo" in 1955. She retired from acting at the age of 35 and died in North Hollywood, California from cancer at the age of 47.