Making her film debut as an extra in 1917, Leatrice Joy soon graduated to playing opposite comics Billy West and Oliver Hardy . Director Cecil B. DeMille took her under his wing and starred her in several of his films. Often playing career girls dressed in mannish suits, or sophisticated society girls, she is generally credited with starting the bobbed-hair craze in the 1920s. She retired shortly after the advent of sound, but made occasional appearances in small supporting roles over the years.

Before she became an actress, Louise Beavers was Leatrice's maid for 12 years.Two of her grandsons, John Fountain and Gideon Fountain , are actors.Her great-grandson is David Prior , who is an actor, a screenwriter, and a DVD producer.She and John Gilbert had one daughter together, actress Leatrice Joy Gilbert .Her unusual given name is said by her grandsons to have come about in the following manner: she was supposed to be named 'Beatrice' but on the way to her christening, her mother remembered that Leatrice's father had once been engaged to a girl by that name. So she went through the alphabet (Beatrice, Ceatrice, Deatrice) until she came to a version she liked.Interviewed in "Talking to the Piano Player: Silent Film Stars, Writers and Directors Remember" by Stuart Oderman (BearManor Media).