Conley's career spanned fifty years, but she was best known for her performances in daytime television, and in particular, for her portrayal of larger-than-life fashion industrialist Sally Spectra on The Bold and the Beautiful.

[3] After graduating from high school, she appeared in several stage productions, including Cyrano de Bergerac, The Baker's Wife and Night of the Iguana.

She was the tough but basically decent prison warden Edith Hopkins on Days of Our Lives in 1983 during Liz Chandler's incarceration for Marie Horton's shooting.

Bell to cast her as flamboyant fashion maven Sally Spectra on his newer serial, The Bold and the Beautiful.

She earned two Outstanding Supporting Actress Daytime Emmy and six Soap Opera Digest Awards nominations for her role.

Reports surfaced in the media in the fall of 2006 that Conley had surgery and received treatment for stomach cancer.