 She took a clerical job for some years and supplemented her income by taking work as an extra in Hollywood, appearing in "The Prodigal" (1955) and "The Ten Commandments" (1956).She returned to Gillespie for tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department in 1956 and 1957, recorded with Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers (1957), and formed an all-women quintet in 1958.In 1959, she visited Europe with the show "Free and Easy", for which Quincy Jones was music director.