At age 13 Martha made her first Hollywood movie appearance. A year later she signed a contract with Hal Roach Studios for the “Our Gang” series. Over the next 20 years she would appear in more than 80 motion pictures and would successfully make the transition from silent movies to “talkies.” Her final motion picture appearance was in the 1945 production “The Bells of St. Mary’s” starring Bing Crosby and Ingrid Bergman.

By 1936 Martha was growing restless with Hollywood. Seeking a new challenge she left for New York City where she performed for 10 years on Broadway. She acted alongside such notables as Spencer Tracey and she received many positive reviews.

Next Martha parlayed a hobby into a career as a jewelry designer. Her niche was creating eccentric pieces out of bakelite, wood and metal. She made tarantula broaches, strawberry necklaces, or bracelets with bird charms. A 1938 article calls her “The Gadget Girl” and notes “hundreds of thousands of feminine lapels are alive and crawling with spiders.” In one year alone she sold over 200,000 pieces. Martha’s jewelry remains in high demand, with many pieces selling for over $2,000.

In 1949 Martha reinvented herself once again. During a Caribbean cruise she fell in love with Puerto Rico and decided to make San Juan her new home. She found designing jewelry “too tedious” and opened her own fashion house “Martha Sleeper Creates.” When her shop opened she had more plants than dresses and mused “people thought I ran a florist shop, I couldn’t sell anything but greens.” Martha’s business flourished and for the next 20 years she designed women’s resort wear and clothing.