Originally beginning her career as a ballerina with the American Ballet Theatre company, Farrell made her film debut in 1959 in Kiss Her Goodbye, followed by roles in 40 Pounds of Trouble (1962), A Lovely Way to Die (1968), and the neo-noir Marlowe (1969).

Throughout the 1960s to the 1980s, Farrell appeared in such films as The Reivers (1969), Marlowe (1969), It's Alive (1974), The Stunt Man (1980), Out of the Blue (1980), Night of the Comet (1984), and Can't Buy Me Love (1987).

[citation needed] She took her stage name combining her father's name Darrel, with "F" for Forsmoe and two "L"s.[13] In addition to film work, Farrell also appeared in guest roles on various television shows including Death Valley Days, Gunsmoke (“Trip West” in 1964), The Man from U.N.C.L.E, I Dream of Jeannie, My Favorite Martian, The Beverly Hillbillies, Harry O, and Hawaii Five-O.

[15] In her biography Sharon Farrell Hollywood Princess from Sioux City, Iowa, she claimed she had romantic relationships with many famous people, including Che Guevara, Steve McQueen and Bruce Lee.

[18] Unreported until 5 August 2023, Farrell died on 15 May 2023, at the age of 82, possibly in Orange County, California,[19] or Los Angeles Downtown Medical Center[20]