Born in San Diego, CA and raised on a ranch in Austin, TX, White began performing semi-professionally as a teenager. After completing high school, she attended Fordham University while pursuing a stage career. She appeared in various regional productions and made her off-Broadway debut in the musical "Lucky Stiff". She won praise for her handling of several roles, most notably Fran, the loud-mouthed, lesbian leader of a women's group, in "The Heidi Chronicles", Wendy Wasserstein's Pulitzer Prize-winning play. When the 1995 TNT TV-movie was filmed, White reprised her role. White also starred with Tony Goldwyn and Kevin Bacon in the romantic comedy "Spike Heels" Off-Broadway in 1992.