Mary Beth Hughes` parents separated while she was still a baby. She was brought up by a grandmother whose dearest wish was to make her an actress. As a result, she started her career at an early age while still a high school student. She starred in the stage version of "Alice in Wonderland" then had parts in "Daddy Long Legs" and "A Midsummer`s Night Dream" with the Clifford Brooks company. She graduated from a high school in Washington in June 1937. Mary Beth then worked again with the Brooks company in the summer of 1938. The same year she was offered a contract by MGM first, soon followed by a 2Oth Century Fox one. By the end of 1949 she sang in night clubs with her husband David Street. She also sang in night-clubs - but alone this time - between 1963 and 1965. It is to be noted that she provisionally left her acting and singing career in 1961 to become a receptionist-technician for an L.A. plastic surgeon.