Her father was Renald Anspach, a World War II Army veteran and later factory worker, who was of German-Jewish and English descent.

[4] Anspach graduated from William Cullen Bryant High School in Long Island City in 1960.

Anspach made her professional debut in Thornton Wilder's one-act play Pullman Car Hiawatha at a summer theater in Maryland.

[1] Anspach starred in several Broadway and off-Broadway shows, including as Sheila, the female lead in the musical Hair.

[4] She starred off-Broadway in 1965 in A View from the Bridge with Robert Duvall, Jon Voight, and Dustin Hoffman.

[6] Anspach first came to prominence in the 1970 film Five Easy Pieces, directed by Bob Rafelson and starring Jack Nicholson.

[11] She had a son, Caleb Goddard (born September 26, 1970), who she claimed was fathered by actor Jack Nicholson.