[2][3] She received further recognition for her appearances in the films Light Sleeper (1992), Tombstone (1993), Exit to Eden (1994), The Margaret Sanger Story (1995), Fly Away Home (1996), True Women (1997), and Wide Awake (1998).

In the 2000s, Delany appeared in main roles on several short-lived television series, including Pasadena (2001), Presidio Med (2002–2003), and Kidnapped (2006–2007).

[11] After growing up in Stamford, Connecticut, she attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, for her senior year and was a member of the school's first co-educational class.

[11] She played the lead role of Nellie Forbush in the school's spring musical production of South Pacific opposite Peter Kapetan as Emile.

[14] She commented: "It was just a little awkward to be Nellie at first because she hesitates to marry Emile since he had once lived with a Polynesian woman – I don't agree with her reasoning so that made things a bit hard at the beginning.

"[15] She appeared in a student video directed by classmate Jonathan Meath in a film class taught by Steve Marx.

[16] She majored in theater at Wesleyan University, where (among other productions) she appeared in one of the first performances of María Irene Fornés feminist play Fefu and Her Friends.

She starred in the Broadway show A Life and won critical acclaim in 1983 in Nicholas Kazan's off-Broadway Blood Moon, where The New York Times cited her "skillful verisimilitude" handling a difficult part requiring two roles "and she does them both with authority.

"[20] Delany moved to Hollywood and during the next few years found work guest starring in TV shows like Moonlighting and Magnum, P.I.

She also took on controversial roles, such as Mistress Lisa in Exit to Eden, where one film critic commented "The script was awful—Dana looked great.

[31] She turned in her best known performance of the decade alongside Kurt Russell's Wyatt Earp, playing his love interest and future bride Josephine Marcus.

Live Nude Girls included frank discussion by women of their sexual fantasies at a bachelorette party using a low-budget improvisational comedy format with strong chemistry between the actors.

[35][36] In 1995, Delany appeared in the Broadway show Translations and in May 1997, she returned to her alma mater Phillips Academy to work with theater students as an artist-in-residence.

[38] She declined the role partly because of the negative audience reaction she received with a similar film, Exit to Eden, a few years prior.

Delany continued to find work in a variety of projects, doing pilots, TV series, made-for-TV movies, and feature films.

[48] New York Daily News TV critic David Bianculli gave a positive review to both her performance as an actor—"Delany, as always, does pensive and independent better than most actresses"—and as a producer.

[49] She played a doctor in the TV series Presidio Med (2002), described as a "conventional but pleasant drama populated by characters dedicated to medicine who also have messy personal lives.

[54][55] Returning to theater, she played an artsy and incompetent woman who questions the "imposed conventions of society" after discovering her husband's affair in the Pulitzer-prize winning Dinner With Friends (2000, New York City, Los Angeles, Boston); her performance earned positive reviews generally.

[56][57] She played Beatrice in Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing (2003, San Diego); one critic described the "verbal sparring" between Delany and actor Billy Campbell as a "joy".

[58] From 2004 to 2006, Delany played many guest roles on TV shows, such as Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, Boston Legal, Kojak, Related, The L Word, and Battlestar Galactica.

[64][65][66] Delany initially declined the offer to play one of the four Desperate Housewives principal characters, Bree Van De Kamp, saying it was too similar to her role on Pasadena.

But in 2007 she was again offered a role by producer Marc Cherry, this time as a supporting housewife, and she joined the cast of the well-established series for the 2007–08 season.

[74][75][76] In March 2010, Delany appeared as FBI agent Jordan Shaw in a two-part story on the TV series Castle, which stars Nathan Fillion, who played her character's second husband on Desperate Housewives.

[78] Delany left Desperate Housewives to star in the new ABC series Body of Proof originally slated to begin airing in late 2010.

[79] In the series, Delany played a brilliant neurosurgeon turned medical examiner after a car accident causes her to lose dexterity in her hands.

[92][93] She appeared in June 2009 in an onstage meeting in New York alongside White House social secretary Desiree Rogers to discuss ways to promote American cinematic creativity.

[96] Delany explained her support for the arts in an interview: "I just think it's so important for children and the future of the country and people's general happiness.

"[11] Delany, in 2003, tried having an injection of botox in her forehead, but the needle hit a nerve and created a bruise that affected the muscle in her right eye, causing it to droop slightly.

[19] In 2010, Delany told Prevention that she prefers eating healthily, including vegetables, tofu, fish, gluten-free pasta, and bread.

[85] In 2019, Delany commented on her approach to acting: "The whole non sibi thing really informs my work ... Every role that I choose ... has to give back to the audience or say something about the world that has resonance and is reflective of the times we're in ...