He is best known for roles in United States daytime soap operas such as Days of Our Lives, Santa Barbara, and General Hospital, but has also guest-starred on a number of crime dramas, such as Kojak, Cannon, Tenspeed and Brown Shoe, Hart to Hart, Nero Wolfe and Magnum, P.I..
Penghlis started his career in acting on stage, performing in Jockeys under Milton Katselas's direction.
[4] Penghlis starred in the 1980s revival of Mission: Impossible, which was filmed in his native Australia.
Penghlis' role as actor, makeup artist, and voice impersonator Nicholas Black in the revival was a counterpart to Martin Landau's Rollin Hand and Leonard Nimoy's The Great Paris.
Penghlis was nominated for Outstanding Leading Actor at the Daytime Emmy Awards in 2008.