She played the title role in a BBC adaptation of Jane Eyre (1963) in addition to many guest roles on television, including Edgar Wallace Mysteries, Gideon's Way, The Avengers, The Sentimental Agent, The Saint, Armchair Theatre, For Whom the Bell Tolls (1965), Danger Man, The Baron, Mystery and Imagination, The Troubleshooters, Callan, Journey to the Unknown, Sherlock Holmes (the 1968 episode "The Sign of Four" with Peter Cushing), Department S, The Lost Boys, Enemy at the Door, Shoestring, Tumbledown, Blackeyes, Inspector Morse, Agatha Christie's Poirot, Midsomer Murders, Casualty, Holby City, The Forsyte Saga (2002 miniseries), The Bill and Waking the Dead. In 1968 she appeared in the Dennis Potter play Shaggy Dog, part of The Company of Five, a London Weekend Television anthology series of six plays featuring the same five actors.

She was born in Wallasey, Cheshire, the daughter of John Forrest Bell and Marjorie (née Byrom) Bell, and educated at Birkenhead High School. She was married to character actor Robert Lang from 1971 until his death in 2004. She has two children. Bell appeared on screen with Lang in Tenko Reunion, in which he played Teddy Forster-Brown. They also appeared together in an episode of Heartbeat ("Bread and Circuses", 2002).

In 2010, Bell featured in the Doctor Who audio drama A Thousand Tiny Wings as well as the 2012 audio play Night of the Stormcrow which also featured her Tenko castmate Louise Jameson.