By age six, Staley had won by audition first chair/second violin in Peter Meremblum's Junior Symphony (André Previn was an alumnus).

This led to her first film appearance, as a child violinist, in The Emperor Waltz, starring Bing Crosby and Joan Fontaine.

She briefly attended Chapman College, after which she moved to where her father was stationed in San Francisco to find work, as the only teletype operator at the William R. Stats brokerage firm.

She joined The Little Theater in Hollywood with roles in The Robe, Fiona in Brigadoon, and My Sister Eileen with actress Jo Anne Worley.

Her working experience, seen taking a shower in the opening credits, with director Vincente Minnelli for Bells Are Ringing, starring Judy Holliday, was, for her, a memorable start to her film career.

[6] For her first ongoing series role, she was featured in multiple appearances on the popular sitcom The Tab Hunter Show, where she was widely recognized for her comedic abilities.

After The Lawless Years, she had a one-time recurring role as David Nelson's temporary secretary in The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet.

A year later, she co-starred with singer Vic Damone in The Lively Ones for NBC, the summer replacement series for The Tennessee Ernie Ford Show.

She was a regular as Hannah, the secretary to series character Stuart Bailey (Efrem Zimbalist Jr.), on the sixth and final season of the ABC/Warner Bros. crime drama, 77 Sunset Strip.

In 1966, she suffered a serious back injury as a result of a horseback riding accident during the filming of Gunpoint starring Audie Murphy.