After appearing alongside her father in an uncredited role in Anne of a Thousand Days (1969), Burton abandoned ambitions of becoming a diplomat for the stage and soon found steady work in film and television, eventually earning a Daytime Emmy for the after-school special "Notes for My Daughter" (1996). She went on to win high-profile, recurring roles on Emmy-caliber dramas such as "The Practice," "Law & Order," "Rescue Me" and "Grey's Anatomy."
Big-screen credits include Big Trouble in Little China (1986), The Ice Storm (1997), Unfaithful (2001), Swimfan (2002) and the critically acclaimed Sherrybaby (2006).