Born '' ' Mona Barlee Smith ' '' in London to comedian Phil Smith and variety performer Jessie Barlee , she lived in Australia from 1913 , and made her professional debut as '' ' Mona Barlee ' '' on stage in a 1922 J. C. Williamson production of '' The Merry Widow '' . For the next ten years she performed for J.C. Williamson 's , mostly in musical comedies and earning a popular reputation , appearing with numerous Australian based variety stars including Roy Rene . She also appeared in her first film , '' His Royal Highness '' , with Australian comedian George Wallace . In 1933 she emigrated to New York , was given a test for films and this led to signing with Fox Film Corporation . She made her first US film '' Sleepers East '' using the stage name Mona Barrie . While her lack of a glamorous beauty resulted in her generally being cast in important but secondary roles , during a film career spanning almost twenty years she appeared in more than fifty films . She co-starred in 1942 's '' Dawn on the Great Divide '' , the last film Buck Jones made before he died in the Cocoanut Grove fire in Boston , Massachusetts . Barrie also performed at various playhouses across the U.S , debuting on Broadway in 1937
Cocoanut Grove fire
Cocoanut Grove fire
Mona Barrie