1966–1972: Stage and early films in
The Survival of St. Joan, 1970 Corbett made her stage debut as
Desdemona in a production of
Othello at the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in 1966. She subsequently appeared in productions with the
New Orleans Repertory Theater in 1967. This same year, she was cast as Sonya Banks in the
Broadway production of
After the Rain with
Alec McCowen. In 1968, she appeared in
The Bench at the
Gramercy Arts Theatre, and in the title role in
Iphigenia in Aulis at the
Circle in the Square Theatre, opposite
Irene Papas. She subsequently co-starred with
Julie Harris in the Broadway production of
Forty Carats, staged at the
Morosco Theatre. One of Corbett's first television roles was on ABC's short-lived police detective show,
N.Y.P.D., in 1968; in the episode, "The Case of the Shady Lady", Corbett played a dancer who tries to make her husband's suicide into a murder for the insurance money. Corbett made her feature film debut in the comedy
Out of It (1969), co-starring with
Jon Voight. She then appeared in the cult horror film ''
Let's Scare Jessica to Death'' (1971). Meanwhile, between 1970 and 1971, Corbett starred as
Jeanne d'Arc in a New York production of
The Survival of St. Joan. Under her Universal contract, Corbett guest-starred in numerous network series in 1974, including
Columbo,
Gunsmoke, and
Banacek. the beleaguered lawyer and sometimes lover of series lead
Jim Rockford, a private investigator portrayed by
James Garner. She appears in 33 episodes (including one uncredited voice-over). During Christmas 1974, Corbett survived a house fire at her residence in
Hollywood, California, which destroyed nearly all of her belongings and left her with minor injuries. After completing the first season of
The Rockford Files, Corbett starred in a televised production of the play
Knuckle (1975), part of
PBS's
Hollywood Television Theater, as well as guest-starring on the series
Hawaii Five-O and
McMillan & Wife. On September 13, 1975 she appeared in the television series
Emergency! as flight stewardess Sue Hickman who started a relationship with Gage after an in flight emergency brought the two together. In that same season, on March 6, 1976, she appeared as a therapy nurse who helped Gage as he recovered from being hit by a car. She also appeared in
Marcus Welby, M.D., playing the stepmother of a young boy molested by his teacher. Corbett appeared as Penny in another PBS televised play,
George Kelly's
The Fatal Weakness, opposite
Eva Marie Saint and
Dennis Dugan. Corbett left
The Rockford Files at the end of the fourth season over a dispute between the show's producers and Universal, who owned Corbett's contract as a contract player.
1981–present: Film, television and theater Corbett starred in the horror film
Jaws of Satan (1981), playing a doctor implicated in a preacher's battle with a snake which is
Satan incarnate. In 1985, she starred in the science fiction series
Otherworld. In 1988, Corbett starred in the original workshop production of
Wendy Wasserstein's
The Heidi Chronicles at the
Seattle Repertory Theatre. Corbett reprised her role of Beth Davenport in the
Rockford Files television films of the 1990s, including
Friends and Foul Play,
If the Frame Fits... (both 1996) and
If It Bleeds... It Leads (1999). In 2019, she appeared in the
Hulu series
Shrill, opposite
Luka Jones and
Aidy Bryant. In late 2019, Corbett began filming the independent drama
Pig, starring
Nicolas Cage,
Adam Arkin, and
Alex Wolff. She also appeared in
Lorelei, starring
Pablo Schreiber and
Jena Malone, which was released in 2021.
The Haven Project In the 2000s, Corbett served as Artistic Director of the Haven Project, a theatre project for underprivileged children in
Portland, Oregon, a replication of New York's 52nd St. Project. ==Personal life==