[7] After graduating from Cornell with a master of fine arts degree, Hicks headed to New York in August 1976, where, two weeks after arriving, she landed her first major TV role as the newly recovered pediatrician Dr.

[12] After Tribute ended its run, she moved to California and co-starred on the 1979–80 CBS sitcom, The Bad News Bears as junior high school principal and psychologist Dr. Emily Rappant.

She had roles in a few TV movies, playing an escort, Annie, in ABC's Love For Rent (1979), and as Beth, a camp counselor in CBS's 1980 film To Race the Wind, based on the Harold Krents' autobiography.

[16] In 1981, Hicks starred in CBS's remake of Jacqueline Susann's Valley of the Dolls, as Anne Wells, an entertainment lawyer, and James Coburn's protege.

[20] In 1988, she played businesswoman Ella Frazier in the Yugoslavian comedy Tajna manastirske rakije (also released under the titles Cognac and Secret Ingredient).

[24] She played Jeannie Barker in the Aaron Spelling primetime soap opera Winnetka Road,[25] which had a six-episode tryout on NBC in 1994.

[27] She played Julia Riordan, opposite John Lithgow and Lea Salonga, in the ABC Hallmark Hall of Fame movie Redwood Curtain (1995).

[32] In 2010, Hicks received positive reviews for her role as Hildegarde, in playwright Christopher Durang's Why Torture Is Wrong and the People Who Love Them at the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood.

[33] She was Texas family court Judge Harriet Krammer in the Hallmark Channel movie A Valentine's Date (2011), (which was also released under the video title Your Love Never Fails).

[35] Hicks co-starred as Anna Walker in the 2011 Walmart and Procter & Gamble Family Movie Night drama on NBC called Game Time: Tackling the Past.

[36] She joined actors Noah Wyle, Virginia Madsen, Mike Farrell, and others in a September 2011 reading of Windows on the World, by Colette Keen, at Hollywood's Stella Adler Theatre, commemorating the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks.

[37] In November 2011, she starred as Irene Livingston in the Jewish Repertory Theatre of Nevada's Las Vegas production of the Moss Hart play Light Up the Sky.

[41] In December 2012, she played Marla Sokoloff's character's mother in the Ion Television original movie, A Christmas Wedding Date.

[48] Since the 1987–1988 academic school year,[49] the University of Notre Dame has given the "Catherine Hicks Award" to a graduating senior for outstanding work in theatre arts.

[54] She continued her commitment as a parent advocate by teaming with the National Community Pharmacists Association and Purdue Pharma for the 2010 Safeguard My Meds campaign to help prevent the abuse and misuse of prescription medication.

[56] In 2017, Hicks began working as a volunteer in California Congressman Adam Schiff's campaign office and for The League of Women Voters.