She made her acting debut in 1955 at age 19 in an episode of
Robert Montgomery Presents. Over the next decade, she appeared often in guest and supporting roles in various
television series, including
Naked City,
The Eleventh Hour,
The Fugitive,
The Invaders,
The Green Hornet, and
The Twilight Zone, and she was cast in the feature film
The Chase (1966) with
Marlon Brando,
Jane Fonda, and
Robert Redford. In 1959, she originated the role of Heavenly Finley in
Tennessee Williams'
Sweet Bird of Youth on Broadway, appearing with
Geraldine Page and
Paul Newman. In 1966, she co-starred in the movie
Smoky in which she played Julie Richards, owner of the Rockin' R Ranch, who falls in love with Clint Barkeley (
Fess Parker), owner of Smoky, a black stallion turned
cutting horse. The same year she appeared in an episode of the TV series
The Man from U.N.C.L.E. titled "The Candidate's Wife Affair" and in another episode titled "The Nowhere Affair". From 1958 to 1963, Hyland was a regular on the NBC soap opera
Young Doctor Malone, playing Gig Houseman, wife of the younger Dr. Malone. Hyland's debut in a feature film was in ''
One Man's Way (1963), playing the wife of Norman Vincent Peale. She had a continuing role as Susan Winter in the prime-time soap opera Peyton Place from 1968 to 1969. She appeared in the 1976 television movie The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, for which she won a posthumous Emmy Award. The following year, she co-starred with Dick Van Patten in the series Eight Is Enough''. She appeared in only five episodes before her death, and her character, Joan Bradford, was subsequently killed off. ==Personal life==