Florenz Ziegfeld insured Long for $100,000 against the possibility of her falling in love or marrying when she danced for his Ziegfeld Follies in the early 1920s. (Long later revealed that at that time she was already married with two children.)[1] After performing with the Follies, Long appeared in the 1922 edition of the New York City revue George White's Scandals.[2] Her rising popularity secured her a role in the cast of Kid Boots. Composer Milton Ager said Long was his inspiration for the song, I Wonder What's Become of Sally.
Rudolph Valentino picked Long to play the leading feminine role in The Hooded Falcon. However her contract with Valentino expired before the film was made. Valentino changed his mind about the movie he wished to make. He decided to do a motion picture which called for a blond feminine lead.
In 1926, Long signed a five-year contract with A. H. Sebastian, Hollywood producer and executive head of Sebastian-Belasco Productions.[3] Her first part with Sebastian was in Fifth Avenue (1926), playing a Greenwich Village girl. She next starred with Buck Jones in a Pathe Pictures production of the comedy, The Fighting Buckaroo (1926).
Long married Leo Bovette Tuey in Kansas City in 1916, when she was fifteen years old.[citation needed] The couple had two children. Long divorced Tuey on January 19, 1926.[1] She explained that she kept her marriage to Tuey a secret because it might have inhibited her career advancement.
She resided for a time with her mother in a large Spanish home at 628 Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills, California. In August 1926 she moved to a cozier home in the Mexican Village a few blocks away, at 251 Crescent Drive.
