Hicks moved to Hollywood in 1979 and made her TV-movie debut in "Love for Rent" (ABC) and played Dr. Rappant, the principal of the elementary school in the series version of "The Bad News Bears" (CBS, 1979-80). But just when it looked as if she might be heading for total mediocrity, Hicks played Marilyn Monroe in "Marilyn: The Untold Story" (ABC, 1980). While many had previously essayed the sex symbol, Hicks' sensitive and real portrayal of Monroe won her an Emmy nomination as Best Actress in a Miniseries or Special. In 1981, she won the role of Ann Welles, the young woman searching for her place in the world who ends up with her feet more firmly planted on the ground, in the CBS miniseries version of "Jacqueline Susann's 'Valley of the Dolls' 1981". Hicks followed with a frothy sitcom, "Tucker's Witch" (CBS, 1982-83), as the female half of a married detective team who uses her special powers to help solve cases. After sporadic activity in TV in the late 80s and early 90s, Hicks returned to a regular berth as a member of the ensemble cast on NBC's short-lived "Winnetka Road" (1994), and as John Lithgow's wife in the TV-movie "Redwood Curtain" (ABC, 1995). In 1996, she tried her luck again with a series, as the wife of progressive minister Stephen Collins in "7th Heaven" (The WB).

Hicks made her screen debut in "Death Valley" (1981) and engagingly played the actress who entrances Ron Silver in the much underrated "Garbo Talks" (1984), directed by Sidney Lumet. That same year she was Isabel, the fiancee role, originally played by Gene Tierney, in the unsuccessful remake of "The Razor's Edge". Her leading lady career at a standstill, Hicks was cast by Francis Ford Coppola as Kathleen Turner's best friend in "Peggy Sue Got Married" (1985), and in 1986, she was Dr. Gillian Taylor, defender of whales, in "Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home". She worked the horror/terror genre with "Child's Play" (1988) and appeared in Mike Figgis' excessive "Liebestraum" (1991). Hicks' other 90s work has generally been in direct-to-video releases (e.g., "Dillinger and Capote" 1995).