[2] Buckley won the 1983 Tony Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for her role as Grizabella in the original Broadway production of Cats.

Her other film roles include Dixie Scott in Tender Mercies (1983), Sondra Walker in Frantic (1988), Kathy in Another Woman (1988) and Mrs. Jones in The Happening (2008).

Buckley was cast as the widower's new romantic interest, Sandra Sue "Abby" Abbott, who became stepmother of the eight children to which the series' title refers.

Her screen roles during the 1980s include Bruce Beresford's film Tender Mercies, where she played a country music singer and sang the Academy Award-nominated song "Over You".

She also appeared in the Woody Allen film Another Woman (1988), Roman Polanski's Frantic (1988), Lawrence's Kasden's Wyatt Earp (1994).

Buckley sang "Memory" from Cats at the Kennedy Center Honors in December 2006 as part of the tribute to Andrew Lloyd Webber.

In 2011, Buckley starred in the Dallas Theater Center production of Arsenic and Old Lace by Joseph Kesselring with Tovah Feldshuh.

In May 2015, it was announced that Buckley would appear as Big Edie in the musical, Grey Gardens[14] at Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, NY.

On February 12, 2018, it was announced that Buckley would portray the title role in the first national tour of the 2017 Broadway revival of Hello, Dolly!, beginning performances in October 2018 in the Connor Palace at Cleveland's Playhouse Square.

[15] The cast included Lewis J. Stadlen as Horace Vandergelder, Nic Rouleau as Cornelius, Analisa Leaning as Irene Molloy, Jess LeProtto as Barnaby, Kristen Hahn as Minnie Fay, Colin LeMoine as Ambrose Kemper, Morgan Kirner, as Ermengarde, and Jessica Sheridan as Ernestina.

[16] Ms. Buckley finished her leg of the tour in September 2019 and prepared concerts scheduled in early 2020 at the Cafe Carlyle in NYC and other venues.

[citation needed] Her album Bootleg: Boardmixes From the Road was released in 2010, and her recording of her hit show at Feinstein's at the Regency with pianist/collaborator Christian Jacob, entitled Ah, Men: The Boys of Broadway debuted on 28 August 2012.

[citation needed] She has received two Honorary Doctorates for her contribution to the Musical Theater from The Boston Conservatory and Marymount Manhattan College.