She is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Wells College in Aurora, New York, and was a Fulbright Scholar in music and drama.
On Broadway she appeared in The Good Doctor (1974), A Touch of the Poet (1977), Private Lives (1983) and Wild Honey (1986), among others.
She also has been a sporadic presence on daytime drama, including Search for Tomorrow and Another World, and received an Emmy award for her outstanding performance as First Lady Abigail Adams in PBS's 13-part epic miniseries The Adams Chronicles (1976).
On film, she has co-starred or played secondary femme roles in Blade (1973), Slap Shot (1977), Girlfriends (1978), and Rich Kids (1979), and she also played John Belushi's wife in the dark, oddball comedy Neighbors (1981).
Her six-part documentary series The Millennium Journal has been shown on the PBS cable channel Metro Arts.