Britton was married on April 8, 1943, in Texas, to Captain Arthur Steel after they met on a blind date arranged by one of her sisters. After the wedding, he was posted to Italy on active Service while Britton remained working at home. They had a daughter, Katherine Lee, born on September 8, 1946. After the war, Steel worked as an advertising executive and went on to manage the Gene Autry hotels (Steel and Autry were first cousins). As their daughter grew up, Britton worked mainly in West Coast theater. She reprised her role in Brigadoon in 1954; appeared in Annie Get Your Gun at the Santa Barbara Bowl; and then returned to Broadway to replace an ailing Janis Paige in Guys and Dolls.