Her grandfather, John "Pop" Reed, was for many decades the gas man at the Walnut Street Theatre and gained a small foothold in American theatrical legend by bequeathing the theatre his skull to be used in performances of "Hamlet".
Elected to the Actors Equity council board in 1918.
On January 29, 1939, for President Roosevelt's Birthday Celebration, she and Laurette Taylor did a command performance from their Broadway success "Outward Bound".
Began a long apprenticeship with New York's Fifth Avenue Theatre stock company in 1901, then toured as E.H. Sothern's leading lady, playing Katherine de Vaucelles in "If I Were King", Dulcinea in "Don Quixote" and Ophelia in "Hamlet".
Daughter of an actor-manager, Roland [Lewis] Reed (1852-1901).