Powers was born in Hollywood, California, to Polish American parents and was reared in the Roman Catholic religion. Her parents divorced during her childhood and her mother, Julia Golen, remarried.

As an actress, Powers appeared in several motion pictures in the early 1960s in secondary roles such as the thriller Experiment in Terror, the comedy If A Man Answers with Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin, and as the daughter of John Wayne in the lighthearted McLintock!. In 1966, her "tempestuous" good looks led to a starring role in the short-lived television spy thriller series, The Girl from U.N.C.L.E.. Read more...

Powers was married to actor Gary Lockwood between 1966 and 1972. She had a relationship with actor William Holden that led to their being involved with wildlife conservation. Following his death in 1981, Powers became President of the "William Holden Wildlife Foundation" and a director of the Mount Kenya Game Ranch in Kenya. In the United States, she works with both the Cincinnati and Atlanta zoos. Read more...