[3] Her father died when she was two years old, and she was raised by her mother, Ona Fisher, who supported her family with a home-operated hair-styling business while living in the Potter's Crossing neighborhood of Edison, New Jersey.

[4][5] In a contest sponsored by Coca-Cola, Fisher won the opportunity to spend two years studying acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

[2] In the same year, she appeared in a film sponsored by the US government called The New Girl in the Office, which depicted a fictional firm hiring its first African-American secretary to ensure compliance with federal contract requirements.

She became the second African American woman after Nichelle Nichols of Star Trek to show prominently on weekly television.

[2] In 1970, her work on Mannix was honored when she received the Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, becoming the first African-American woman to do so.

After Mannix was cancelled in 1975, she appeared on television about once a year, guest starring on popular shows such as Fantasy Island, Knight Rider, General Hospital, and The White Shadow.

[12][13][14] Jet magazine reported in its July 26, 1973 issue that she also was married to Robert A. Walker, a businessman from Los Angeles.