[1] Born to a Jewish family in New York City and raised in El Paso, Crane studied drama at Texas State College for Women in Denton,[2] and was a member of Elia Kazan's Actors Studio.

In 1960, Crane appeared as Sarah Prentice in the episode "River Champion" of the NBC Western series Riverboat starring Darren McGavin.

A few weeks later, Crane was cast as Sarah in the episode "Deadly Tomorrow" of the ABC adventure series The Islanders, set in the South Pacific.

In 1961, Crane guest-starred in the title role in the episode "The Return of Widow Brown" of the NBC Western The Deputy.

[4] Crane died of breast cancer on September 28, 1973, at age 44 in Los Angeles, California, two years after the release of Fiddler on the Roof (1971), her last film.