[3] She was nominated five times for an Emmy Award for her role as attorney Joyce Davenport in the TV police drama Hill Street Blues.

She was the model in the last[5] cigarette commercial televised in the U.S. (for Virginia Slims, aired at 11:59 pm on January 1, 1971, on The Tonight Show).

Hamel is best remembered for playing Joyce Davenport, the dedicated public defender, who also happened to be the love interest of police captain Frank Furillo, on the long-running TV series Hill Street Blues from 1981-87.

[3] Alan Alda's 1988 film A New Life cast Hamel in a leading role as his doctor and love interest.

[citation needed] In 2002, she also appeared on Hill Street Blues creator Steven Bochco's legal drama Philly.