 Having co-starred in a staging of Madge Miller's "Land of the Dragon", she was seen in "Blue Denim", James Leo Herlihy's play about teen pregnancy, by Solly Baiano, the head of Warner Bros. talent department.With her parents' permission, Baiano arranged a meeting with producer-director Delmer Daves, then in the midst of preparing "Parrish", a big-budget vehicle for Troy Donahue.Describing her as "a lovely little Madonna with black hair and deep blue eyes", Daves concluded that she presented the desired appearance and personality to be one of Donahue's romantic conquests in the film, and introduced her to studio head Jack L. Warner, who saw to it that a contract-signing ceremony was ready for February 29, 1960, her 16th birthday.