Benet was born Brenda Ann Nelson in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California; later, her family moved to South Gate.

[3] She studied with San Francisco Ballet, was featured in several productions of the Los Angeles Civic Light Opera, was a musician who played piano, flute and violin, and was fluent in five languages.

She eventually became an actress very much in demand for roles in episodic primetime television in the 1960s and 1970s, including I Dream of Jeannie, McHale's Navy, Daniel Boone, Mannix, The Green Hornet (TV series), My Three Sons, Hogan's Heroes, Love, American Style, Wonder Woman, The Love Boat, and The Courtship of Eddie's Father.

She portrayed Lee Dumonde on the daytime serial Days of Our Lives, a role she played from 1979 until her death in 1982.

While they were on a weekend ski trip at Mammoth Lakes, Christopher suffered acute epiglottitis, going into a coma and cardiac arrest after doctors subsequently carried out a tracheotomy.