Pickles began her career as a child star after being chosen by Mary Field for a series of Saturday Morning children's films, including the lead roles in Jean's Plan (1944) and the serial The Adventures of Peter Joe (1945).

After being educated at Le Collège Feminin de Bouffément in Paris, she started her adult performing career acting in repertory and progressed to featured roles in West End revues.

I'd seen the thing that she did for Ken Russell – 'Isadora'".Another memorable performance on British television was as Mary, Queen of Scots, in Elizabeth R (1971) with Glenda Jackson in the lead role.

Other screen roles include Play Dirty (1969, with Michael Caine), The Looking Glass War (1970), Hello-Goodbye (1970), Nicholas and Alexandra (1971), Candleshoe (1977) and two films for Lindsay Anderson – O Lucky Man!

Her later television films include Miss Morrison's Ghosts (1981) with Wendy Hiller, Alan Bennett's The Insurance Man (1986), with Daniel Day-Lewis and Jim Broadbent.