Though she would mainly be involved with television, her acting career began with film in the late 1940s and 1950s. At age 18, she was signed (as Imagene Williams) to a contract with Warner Bros.
Her first movie appearance was in the 1949 classic film noir White Heat starring James Cagney and Virginia Mayo. The next year she had the part of Miss Dolly Travers in MGM's The Happy Years which starred Dean Stockwell, Darryl Hickman and Leo G. Carroll. Other film credits included The Story of Seabiscuit and Chain Lightning, as well as one of the leads of A Life at Stake, a murder drama starring Angela Lansbury.
In 1953, she played one of the lead roles in the science-fiction film Robot Monster, generally regarded as one of the worst films of all time.
Barrett retired from acting in 1964 but stayed in show Business, working for the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
