[3] He appeared in the 1958 movie Houseboat with Sophia Loren and Cary Grant, but achieved stardom playing teenager Jeff Stone from 1958 to 1966 on the ABC family television sitcom The Donna Reed Show.

Throughout eight seasons and decades of reruns in syndication, The Donna Reed Show became part of American popular culture, and in 1997, Petersen was honored by the Young Artist Foundation with its Former Child Star "Lifetime Achievement" Award for his role on the series.

[4] After The Donna Reed Show ended, Petersen had a small role as Tony Biddle in the 1967 musical film The Happiest Millionaire.

In 1962, the sentimental teen pop song "My Dad" was performed on The Donna Reed Show with Petersen singing the tune to his on-screen father, actor Carl Betz.

Petersen's authorship began after he met David Oliphant, a New York City publisher visiting Los Angeles.

He also recently served on the board of directors of Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA), a national media performers AFL-CIO union based in Los Angeles.