After her film debut All Over the World (1967), she transitioned into heavy drama with highly acclaimed performances in films such as Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (Three Years Without God) (1976), Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo (Once a Moth) (1976), Ina Ka ng Anak Mo (You Are the Mother of Your Daughter) (1979), Himala (Miracle) (1982), Bulaklak sa City Jail (Flowers of the City Jail) (1984), and Bona (1980).

[14] Before her fame, she lived a poverty stricken childhood and selling peanuts on the buses and cold water in front of the Bicol Express Train Station to make ends meet.

After winning the local talent search, Tawag ng Tanghalan in 1967,[21] she made her first appearance as a guest at Timi Yuro's Araneta Coliseum concert.

That year her contract with Sampaguita Pictures expired and she made films with other studios, including Banda 24 and Drakulita for Barangay, Oh Delilah, Karate Showdown, Pabandying-Bandying and Adriana.

[48] Aunor continued to star and produce critically acclaimed, quality films like the hit period drama Tatlong Taong Walang Diyos (Three Years Without God).

Next was Tinik sa Dibdib as Lorna, a long-suffering daughter of irresponsible parents who drove her to marry a security guard, who himself is the breadwinner of a very dysfunctional family.

She filmed Bilangin ang mga Bituin sa Langit (Count the Stars in the Sky), about the rise and fall of a poor, hard-working, and determined barrio lass and her lifetime stormy relationship with a childhood sweetheart.

Bilangin ang Bituin sa Langit, a critical and box-office hit, won Aunor the Best Actress Awards in Gawad Urian, FAMAS, and FAP.

Many showbiz personalities came to show their support to Aunor like Sharon Cuneta, Joseph Estrada, Regine Velasquez, Pilita Corrales, Danny Tan, Edgar Mortiz, Juan Rodrigo, Carlo Orosa, Ivy Violan, and others.

Later in 1991, Aunor ventured into the world of theater and showed versatility and genius when she did the stage adaptation of her critically acclaimed film, Minsa'y Isang Gamu-gamo.

The film tells the story of Pacita M., a singer-entertainer in a seedy Quezon City nightclub whose daughter Grace was shot in the head by a stray bullet just as she was preparing to go off to college.

Although initially, Pacita held out for a miracle to save her daughter from her vegetative state, eventually she relents and seeks to allow Grace a dignified death by turning off her respirator.

[120] In June 1996, Aunor was cast to play Sisa in Premiere Productions' then-upcoming film adaptation of José Rizal's novel Noli Me Tángere, though the project did not come to fruition.

[125] In 2002, Aunor returned to Philippine television through her nightly drama show entitled, Bituin, a Filipino soap opera that was aired by ABS-CBN from September 23, 2002, to May 23, 2003.

Her character Dorinda is a 50-year-old widow with a twenty-something-year-old son, Yul Servo played Noah Garcia, a courteous and charming taxi driver who keeps a rosary in his pocket and shares stories from the Bible.

Sa Ngalan ng Ina is a film made for television or a miniseries is a political drama about a widow that ran as a governor when her husband was assassinated.

On the eve of Venice awards rites, Aunor was chosen by an independent film critics, the "Premio Della Critica Indipendiente" as their best performer and gave her the Bisato d'Oro.

In 2013, she finished Ang Kwento ni Mabuti[149] an official entry to the 1st CineFilipino film Festival directed by acclaimed director Mes de Guzman.

[162] In the promotional news of TV5, Aunor was announced to top-bill a TV5's musical-drama, Trenderas, which tells the tale of how three musically gifted young ladies rise from being sidewalk vendors to YouTube-famous singers.

[165] On July 18, 2014, the University of the Philippines College of Mass Communication announced that for the year 2014, the recipient of Gawad Plaridel is Nora Aunor for Television, Music and Film.

The award was also conferred on Denisa Reyes and Basilio Esteban Villaruz for Dance; Fides Cuyugan-Asensio for Music; Tony Mabesa for Theater; Roberto Chabet for Visual Arts; Ricardo Lee and Leoncio P. Deriada for Literature; Paulo Alcazaren for Architecture; Ben Farrales for Design; Armida Siguion-Reyna for Musical Theatre and Film, and the Talaandig School of Living Traditions.

In the 10-minute monologue which premiered on her 67th birthday, Aunor played a medical frontliner on a video conference call with her grandchildren, talking about the pain of losing one's husband in the middle of the pandemic and the courage she has to muster every day to deal with this deadly virus face-to-face while tending to the sick.

It was produced to honor the Filipino medical frontliners around the world who worked and served during the pandemic, and Aunor was well-regarded by critics and the viewing public for her performance and for pioneering a new art form so relevant and fitting during the global lockdown.

[193][194] In 2021, Aunor was chosen as one of the Best Actors and Actresses of the Decade (2010s) [195] by the Manunuri ng Pelikulang Pilipino, the Filipino film critics group who hands out the Gawad Urian Award.

[199] The award was given to Aunor, Marilou Diaz-Abaya, and Ricardo Lee (Film and Broadcast Arts); Tony Mabesa (Theater); Agnes Locsin (Dance); Fides Cuyugan-Asensio (Music); Salvacion Lim-Higgins (Design); and Gemino Abad (Literature).

In 2013, she received the "Light of Culture Awards from Philippine Centre of the International Theatre Institute and the ITI-Earthsavers UNESCO Dream Center for pioneering in the integration of theater, television, and film.

[209] On September 17, 2015, Aunor was conferred the Gawad CCP para sa Sining for Film and Broadcast Arts, the highest award given by the Cultural Center of the Philippines.

She has been directed by four Philippine National Artist Awardees: Gerardo de Leon (Fe, Esperanza, Caridad and Banaue: Stairway to the Sky), Lamberto Avellana (Fe, Esperanza, Caridad), Lino Brocka (Ina ka ng Anak Mo, Nakaw Na Pag-ibig, Bona), and Ishmael Bernal (Himala, Ikaw Ay Akin).

The third play, a Filipino adaptation of Euripides' immortal tragedy, was produced by Cecille Guidote-Alvarez's theater company, directed by a Greek national, and staged at the Ninoy Aquino Parks and Wildlife.

Although Aunor's first singles were not major hits, she subsequently went on to smash local record sales with songs like "It's Time to Say Goodbye", "Silently", "Forever Loving You", "It's Not Unusual", and countless others.