Born in David City, Nebraska, Ruth left home at age seventeen to attend art school in Chicago. Her job designing costumes at the Marigold Gardens nightclub led to employment singing and dancing in the chorus there. She became a featured vocalist at the nightclub.
She made her Broadway debut in the "Ziegfeld Follies of 1927", and appeared in a number of other hit shows in rapid succession, including "Simple Simon" and "Whoopee!".
In Hollywood she made a long series of movie shorts between 1929 and 1936, and three feature movies in 1933 and 1934. In 1936, She appeared in London in Ray Henderson's "Transatlantic Rhythm".
Her version of "Ten Cents A Dance" (in 1999), and her version of "Love Me or Leave Me" (in 2005) were inducted into the Grammy Hall Of Fame.
Ruth had over sixty hit recordings.
