Before his career in television, Rafferty was a military policeman in the United States Army.

His first national TV exposure was as a co-host on the NBC reality series Real People, which ran from 1979 to 1984.

Originally, he was one of the five in-studio co-hosts before becoming a field correspondent ("roving reporter"), though he still made occasional studio appearances.

Rafferty also made guest appearances on episodes of Laugh-In in the late 1970s version of the show.

Rafferty died from congestive heart failure on the morning of August 11, 2012.