A former student of classical ballet, Whyte graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts before rising to prominence on Australian television for her role as the moralising producer Emma Ward on Frontline, the ABC's parody of current affairs programs – a role for which she won the 1997 Silver Logie Award for Most Outstanding Actress.
In 2008, she appeared in a production of David Williamson's play Don's Party at the Sydney Opera House.
In 2010, Whyte won Best Female Actor in Supporting Role in a Play at the 10th Annual Helpmann Awards for her portrayal of Queen Elizabeth in Richard III, directed by Simon Phillips.
[3] In 2023/24, Whyte played Linda Loman opposite Anthony LaPaglia's Willy in an Australian production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman.
[4] From 1995 to 2007 Whyte and her husband Fred Whitlock ran the Terminus Hotel in Abbotsford, Melbourne.