After her parents separated, Merna Kennedy’s mother packed up the family and moved to California. Mama Kennedy began to teach, prep and train seven-year old Merna and her brother Merle to perform as a song-and-dance duo. The siblings were a popular vaudeville act and were featured often at Los Angeles prominent vaudeville theaters. They caught the eye of Lita Grey, Charlie Chaplin‘s second wife. Sadly, Merle broke his leg, putting an end to the act.
Through her connection to Lita Grey, Merna landed a role in Chaplin’s film The Circus. Because of the leg strength she gained from dancing, Merna was given the role of a bareback rider.
Merna made more films, including two dozen talkies, but called it a career in 1934 when she married choreographer/director Busby Berkeley. The union only lasted two years.
In December 1944, Merna married Master Sergeant Forrest Brayton. Just four days after the marriage, Merna died from a heart attack. She was 36.