Within a year, she earned a main role on the ABC comedy Western series Here Come the Brides (1968–1970) as Biddie Cloom.

A self-described character actress, Tolsky made her film debut in Pretty Maids All in a Row (1971) and gained wider recognition as a regular on the variety series The New Bill Cosby Show (1972–1973) on CBS.

Her film credits include supporting roles in Charley and the Angel (1973), Record City (1977), and How to Beat the High Cost of Living (1980).

Tolsky's final credit is the Disney Channel animated comedy series The Buzz on Maggie (2005–2006), where she voiced Mrs. Pesky.

[12][13] When her father advised her not to pursue a career in acting, she enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin to major in nursing.

"[12] As "the lure of acting proved strong", she transferred to the Department of Drama and switched her major to theater and English.

[9]At university, she regularly appeared in school plays, stating that she "acted [her] head off in everything from Greek tragedy to musical comedy".

[12] When Tolsky arrived in Hollywood, Foy was unable to grant her a contract with Screen Gems, and instead introduced her to people who worked in casting and helped her get an agent.

[14][17] In 1968, Howard, a contract actress at Screen Gems, brought home a script for the pilot episode of the comedy Western series Here Come the Brides.

[14][20] The plot was loosely based on the Mercer Girls, women who moved from the East Coast of the United States to Seattle, Washington, in the 1860s.

Foy was less enthused of her chances of securing the part, believing she could not play a character from Massachusetts due to her Southern accent.

[14] In January 1968, Tolsky read for the part after convincing Foy,[11][19] and she recalled that the audition was "awful", stating that she was a "nervous wreck".

[19] Tolsky chose not to sign a long-term contract with the studio as she knew that "all too often they mean seven years of forced labor in the wrong roles".

[27] After watching the final product at a preview, Tolsky told Vadim, "Now I know why I'm the only girl in the movie who didn't get asked to take off her clothes.

"[12][28] Tolsky was slated to appear in Dirty Little Billy (1972) as the Texan girlfriend of Michael J. Pollard's title character, but the plans fell through.

[33] In the early 1970s, Tolsky regularly appeared as a guest on talk shows hosted by Merv Griffin and Virginia Graham.

Cosby told the New York Daily News that he "fought and won a battle" with the network to not establish Tolsky's character as a "dumb dame".

[40] While reviewing the film, the Austin American-Statesman's Marjorie Hoffman wrote that Tolsky "has a few good scenes as a self-admiring spinster".

[46][47] Tolsky starred in the television pilot Front Page Feeney with Don Knotts, which aired in syndication in August 1977.

[54][55] She also guest starred on two episodes of the ABC sitcom Barney Miller in 1981 and 1982,[56] for which the scripts were not finished at the time of filming.

"[62] She felt that pleasant experiences on set became "less and less common by the 1980s"; she recalled, "The fifties and sixties and seventies – that was a wonderful era.

[67][68][69][70] She also voiced characters in single episodes of several Disney Television Animation productions, including TaleSpin (1991), Goof Troop (1992), and Jungle Cubs (1996).

[71][72][73] Tolsky's final credit is the Disney Channel animated comedy series The Buzz on Maggie (2005–06), where she was part of the main cast.

[70] The series premiered in June 2005 to a positive response from television critics, who praised its humor, voice acting, and writing.

[77] Tolsky dated actor Christopher Stone, whom she met through the New Talent Program at Screen Gems in the late 1960s, for five years.