At one point in the mid-1920s Ralston was one of Hollywood's highest-paid stars, but her career gradually petered out with the coming of sound. She did, however, play intermittent supporting roles (as in the highly enjoyable mystery "Mr. Dynamite" 1935) until the early 1940s. Ralston later worked as an executive at a talent agency and for an electric company, and did occasional TV work (e.g. a leading role as the mother of "Our Five Daughters" 1962). Ralston was one of the founding members of the Screen Actors Guild and in her later years proved a very lively interviewee on TV specials and documentaries on the past glories of American film.