Rhue was born in Washington, D.C., graduated from Los Angeles High School, and studied drama at Los Angeles City College. From the 1950s to the 1990s, Rhue appeared in some 20 films, including Operation Petticoat (1959), The Ladies Man (1961), A Majority of One (1961), Escape from Zahrain (1962), Stanley Kramer's It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963), He Rides Tall (1964), Kenner (1969) and Stand Up and Be Counted (1972). She also was a guest star in dozens of television series, including Star Trek in the episode "Space Seed" (1967) as Lt. Marla McGivers, Khan Noonien Singh's (Ricardo Montalbán) love interest. Rhue had played the spouse of another character played by Montalbán in an episode of Bonanza in 1960. That year, she also played the title role of Marian Ames in the Perry Mason episode "The Case of the Wayward Wife".
Other guest appearances included Cheyenne (1955); Have Gun – Will Travel, Gunsmoke, Riverboat, The Rebel, Laramie, and Rawhide (1959); Pony Express, Sugarfoot, Checkmate, The Alaskans, Bourbon Street Beat, The Roaring 20s, The Untouchables, and The Westerner (1960); Perry Mason ("The Case of the Wayward Wife", 1960); Route 66 (1962); The Alfred Hitchcock Hour (1963); The Virginian (1963); The Man from U.N.C.L.E. (1964, 1967), Daniel Boone (1965); The Fugitive (1964, 1966); Ironside (1967); The Wild Wild West (1967); Star Trek (1967), Mannix (1968); Bracken's World (1969–70); Hawaii Five-O (1970, 1973); Mission: Impossible (1972); Banacek (1972); Starsky & Hutch (1975); Fantasy Island (1978) and Charlie's Angels (1979). She also appeared in the television movie Goldie and the Boxer (1979), and made appearances on the game show The Match Game (1974–76).
In 1962, Rhue married actor Tony Young and acted with him in the western He Rides Tall. They divorced in 1970.
In 1977, Rhue was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. She continued to work, including a role in Days of Our Lives; but by 1985, she needed a wheelchair and was limited to roles that did not require her to walk or stand, such as recurring roles in Murder, She Wrote and Houston Knights. Her illness prevented her from appearing as her Star Trek character Lieutenant Marla McGivers in the film Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982), and the character ultimately disappeared from the script as Director Nicholas Meyer did not wish to re-cast the part.
