She originally auditioned for the role of Ellen Ripley in Ridley Scott's horror classic Alien (1979), but had instead been cast as Joan Lambert. She disliked the character's emotional weakness, but nevertheless accepted the role.

She starred in two remakes of the 1950s horror film Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956): Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978) and The Invasion (2007).

She has appeared in three films that have been selected for the National Film Registry by the Library of Congress as being "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant: The Birds (1963), Alien (1979) and The Right Stuff (1983).

She was awarded the 1980 Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress as Joan Lambert in Ridley Scott's horror classic Alien (1979).

She appears on the cover for the second album "Ta-Dah" (2006) by the pop/rock band Scissor Sisters.

She was awarded the 1984 Drama Logue Award for Outstanding Performance for the play, "The Hands of Its Enemy", at the Mark Taper Forum Theatre in Los Angeles, California.

She was a guest at the 2012 Memphis Film Festival's "A Gathering of Guns 4: A TV Western Reunion" at the Whispering Woods Hotel and Conference Center in Olive Branch, Mississippi.