She was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Her first "show-business" job was as a chorine, working in a speakeasy for the Prohibition-era hostess Texas Guinan.

Ruby Keeler died of cancer in Rancho Mirage, California and was interred in the Holy Sepulcher Cemetery in Orange, California. She has a Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6730 Hollywood Blvd.

Some of her better known films include:

• 42nd Street - (1933)
• Gold Diggers of 1933 - (1933)
• Footlight Parade - (1933)
• Dames - (1934)
• Flirtation Walk - (1934)
• Go Into Your Dance - (1935)
• Shipmates Forever - (1935)
• Colleen - (1936)
• Ready, Willing and Able - (1937)
• Mother Carey's Chickens - (1938)
• Sweetheart of the Campus - (1941)