A former beauty queen who held the title of Miss West Seattle, Cannon made her television debut in Over the next decade, she became a common sight on episodic shows while appearing occasionally on Broadway and in B-movies.
Cannon made her feature directorial debut with 's semi-autobiographical drama The End of Innocence , which she also wrote and starred in. From to she played a recurring role on the legal series Ally McBeal. Before her career took off, Cannon was married to Cary Grant for three years and gave birth to his only child, daughter Jennifer. Reluctant to discuss the marriage since their divorce, Cannon initially turned down publishing deals following Grant's death in In , the book was adapted into a miniseries called Archie with Cannon executive producing.
Cannon made her film debut in in The Rise and Fall of Legs Diamond ; she had appeared on television since the late s, including a guest appearance on Bat Masterson as Mary Lowery in the episode "Lady Luck" and again in a episode as Diane Jansen in "The Price of Paradise". In she guest-starred on Gunsmoke , playing Ivy Norton, an abused daughter looking to marry the man she loves in the episode "Aunt Thede". She landed another role in a feature with The Murder Game , then took four years off.
Her name was used to market a fifth release that year, Doctors' Wives , in which she had top billing despite only making a cameo appearance. Cannon was slated to appear in The Traveling Executioner and Double Indemnity , but bowed out and was replaced by Marianna Hill and Samantha Eggar , respectively.
Following this she took a four-year absence from acting in feature films. Ives She became the first Oscar-nominated actress to be nominated in the Best Short Film, Live Action category for Number One , a project which Cannon produced, directed, wrote and edited. It was a story about adolescent sexual curiosity. For her contributions to the film industry, Cannon was inducted into the Hollywood Walk of Fame in with a motion pictures star located at Hollywood Boulevard.
