Mattson made her daytime debut as troubled teen Hope Bauer on Guiding Light in 1976, her only complete heroine on the soaps.
Replacing Linda Gibboney on Santa Barbara, she received additional Emmy nominations as Gina Blake Lockridge, a role she played from December 1985 through the final episode in January 1993.
Over the next few years, she took on several short term roles on The Bold and the Beautiful (2003), Madame Cheri Love on As the World Turns (2007), and Lee Michaels on Days of Our Lives (2010–11).
Mattson returned to General Hospital on two occasions, first in 2004 for six months, where she was reunited with her former Santa Barbara co-star Jed Allan, and in the spring of 2012.
Mattson, whose father was a chef in California, studied at culinary school and co-authored the cook book Soap Opera Café: The Skinny on Food from a Daytime Star.