Sally Eilers enjoyed lunch with a classmate from drama school, Jane Peters (who would later become known as Carole Lombard ), at the Sennett Studios refectory. There, she was spotted by Mack Sennett and instantly became one of his "discoveries". Having already appeared in several bit parts beginning with The Red Mill (1927) in 1927, she was offered a role in The Good-Bye Kiss (1928), a rare dramatic feature for the studio. Either Sennett or Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (depending on which version of the story is to be believed) tagged Sally with the publicity line "the most beautiful girl in movies". The vivacious former brunette (quickly transformed by Hollywood into a blonde) spent her apprenticeship as a leading actress co-starring in westerns with her future husband Hoot Gibson and with Buster Keaton in Sailor's Holiday (1929). In 1931, director Frank Borzage cast her (instead of established star Janet Gaynor ) in the depression-era film Bad Girl (1931). What could have been maudlin melodrama, was enlivened by excellent direction and some snappy dialogue (winning Academy Award s for both direction and screenplay) and elicited from Sally Eilers in the title role (as "Dot Haley") the best performance of her career. There were to be other films of note: Reducing (1931) with Marie Dressler , the original State Fair (1933) with Will Rogers (with Sally playing a 'carnie') and Sailor's Luck (1933), with her Bad Girl (1931) co-star James Dunn , where a review described her performance as "highly satisfactory". Alas, most of her subsequent parts were in lesser features and she never made the grade as a top star. Sally continued to act in films, eventually reduced to supporting roles, until the late 1940's. She was married four times.

Mother of screenwriter Harry Joe Brown Jr. .Inurned at Forest Lawn Glendale, Freedom Mausoleum, Columbarium of Understanding