In 1971, she graduated from Washburn High School. Her first film role was a small part as a U.S.O. singer in the 1979 Steven Spielberg comedy 1941 and in the same year she appeared in two minor productions, Fyre and Scavenger Hunt. She was one of the principal performers in the 1980 Alan Parker musical drama Fame, portraying Doris, a naive young acting student. In 1981, she starred in the CBS Afternoon Playhouse episode "Portrait of a Teenage Shoplifter".