She took afternoon classes at the Hampshire School of Drama in the town in her teens.
Kaplan worked in many British drama series, including Doctors, Brookside, EastEnders, and London's Burning, and in the film The Death of Klinghoffer (2003).
She worked in pantomime in December 2008/January 2009 as the Wicked Queen in Snow White at the Empire Theatre, Consett, and at Buxton Opera House.
In early 2015 she was Agnes Tinker in Coronation Street, the grandmother of established character Beth.
A chain smoker from the age of 14, Kaplan died of cancer at her home in Westgate-on-Sea, Kent on 10 October 2019.