The Texas-born Ivey received her training at Illinois State University and began her stage career in Chicago, debuting in the 1974 Goodman Theatre production of "The Sea". She racked up a variety of credits before moving to NYC in the late 1970s. Ivey made her Broadway debut as part of the American replacements for the original British cast in "Bedroom Farce" in 1979. Other theater roles (both on and off-Broadway) followed, including understudying the title role of "Piaf" (1981). Ivey won her first Tony Award for her bravura (mostly nude) performance in "Steaming" (1983). Two years later, she picked up a second Tony as the abused go-go dancer in David Rabe's "Hurlyburly". Other notable stage roles include the overprotective mother in George Furth's semi-autobiographical "Precious Sons" (1986), Ruth in the 1987 Broadway revival of Noel Coward's "Blithe Spirit", a widowed housekeeper to an irascible professor in "Park Your Car in Harvard Yard" (1991) and a frustrated, repressed wife of a diplomat in Jon Robin Baitz's "A Fair Country" (1996).

Ivey has demonstrated her flair for comedy as a regular on several sitcoms. She was a career woman who returns to her Texas roots in "Down Home" (NBC, 1990-91) and played another Southern character, the wealthy widow B.J. Poteet, on the final season of the sitcom "Designing Women" (CBS, 1992-93). Using her dulcet tones, she voiced the character of Eleanor Sherman, the repressed mother of "The Critic" (ABC, 1993-94; Fox 1994-95). Ivey was one of the four women who weekly battled with their domineering mother-in-law in "The Five Mrs. Buchanans" (CBS, 1994-95) and turned the tables to play the much married, hard-living mother-in-law foil to one of the title "Buddies" (ABC, 1996) in that short-lived sitcom. Her dramatic gifts have been much in evidence in her TV longform work. She inherited the role of Noel (originated by Joanne Woodward in the feature), the feisty spinsterish daughter of a Southern tyrant in the NBC miniseries "The Long Hot Summer" (1985). Ivey was the prosecuting attorney in "Her Final Fury: Betty Broderick The Last Chapter" (CBS, 1992), was the bigoted daughter-in-law of a widow who befriends a black youth in the Disney Channel's "On Promised Land" (1994) and played the best friend of the TV newswoman in "Almost Golden: The Jessica Savitch Story" (Lifetime, 1995).

On the big screen, Ivey's appearances have been infrequent, but often memorable. She demonstrated a flair for energetic comedy in such films as "The Lonely Guy" (1984), as Steve Martin's love interest, and Frank Perry's "Compromising Positions" (1985), as Susan Sarandon's outspoken best friend. Among her dramatic credits are Norman Jewison's "In Country" (1989), Karel Reisz's "Love Hurts" (1990) and "Washington Square" (1997).