She made her first noticeable film debut in Millions Like Us (1943) as the Welsh room-mate and confidante of the main character (played by Patricia Roc). She appeared in such classics as Green for Danger (1946), The History of Mr. Polly (1949), The Cruel Sea (1953), and Oliver! (1968). She played the housekeeper Mrs Grose in two adaptations of Henry James's The Turn of the Screw: the film The Innocents (1961), and a 1974 television adaptation. She frequently played comic roles, and in later life was a regular in the sitcom, Oh No, It's Selwyn Froggitt!, and the children's series, Worzel Gummidge.