Vernon portrayed Lorraine Prescott on the CBS prime time soap opera Falcon Crest from 1984 to 1985. During the 1980s she appeared on various TV series, including Family Ties, Dallas, Remington Steele, Hotel, Murder, She Wrote and the 1987 miniseries I'll Take Manhattan, as well as the 1986 comedy-drama film Pretty in Pink, and the 1989 gangster comedy Mob Story, in which she appeared opposite her father. Other early film credits included Alphabet City (1984) and Roadhouse 66 (1985).