She made her onscreen debut in the German comedy, Komm nur, mein liebstes Vögelein (1968), followed by the role of Kriemhild in the erotic action film, The Long Swift Sword of Siegfried (1971).

Roger Corman's space opera cult classic, Battle Beyond the Stars (1980) helped to established her as a B movie actress.

[2] She appeared in a number of films during the 1980s: Chained Heat (1983), Hercules (1983), Malibu Express (1985), Howling II: Your Sister Is a Werewolf (1985), and Reform School Girls (1986).

[citation needed] In 1990, her acting career was disrupted when she suffered a spinal disc herniation while rehearsing a film stunt.

[citation needed] Danning returned to Austria in 2008 to play Patrick Swayze's witness Anna Gruber in the drama film Jump!, loosely based on the real-life Halsman murder case.