Ward's Broadway credits included Early to Bed, Billion Dollar Baby, Heaven on Earth, Along Fifth Avenue, and New Girl in Town. Her many TV appearances included Mike Hammer, Perry Mason, Dr. Kildare, and more.

Ward was born in West Orange, New Jersey to Ethel Laurinda and Frederick Ward. In 1948, after several years performing in New York, she married fellow actor Jack Cassidy, with whom she had one child, actor and musician David Cassidy (The Partridge Family), before their divorce less than 10 years later.

She is survived by son David Cassidy.