Pfeiffer was born on January 1, 1964, in Midway City, California, the daughter of Donna (née Taverna), a homemaker, and Richard Pfeiffer, a heating and air-conditioning contractor. Her parents were both originally from North Dakota. Her paternal grandfather was of German ancestry and her paternal grandmother was of English, Welsh, French, Irish, and Dutch descent, while her maternal grandfather was of Swiss-German descent and her maternal grandmother was of Swedish ancestry. She is the younger sister of Actress Michelle Pfeiffer.

Pfeiffer began her acting career at the age of 21 with a 1985 appearance on Simon & Simon, an American detective television series starring Gerald McRaney and Jameson Parker. That same year, Pfeiffer made her movie debut in Into the Night, a 1985 American comedy-thriller film directed by John Landis, playing a prostitute opposite Jeff Goldblum and her sister Michelle. Pfeiffer's first nude role came in a 1989 shower scene for the supernatural horror film The Horror Show, and she later would go on to pose nude for Playboy magazine's February 2002 edition.

Along with acting on stage, Pfeiffer starred in many films and on TV. One of her best-known TV roles is on Cybill Shepherd's television series Cybill, as her daughter, "Rachel Blanders," from 1995–1997. She also starred in the TV series For Your Love from 1998 to 2002. She starred with Susanna Hoffs in the 1987 film The Allnighter and has made guest appearances on the TV shows Simon & Simon, Ellen, Seinfeld, Friends, Dream On, CSI: NY and The Dead Zone among others.

In an interview on the 2011 UK DVD & Blu-ray release of Vamp, Pfeiffer states she has shelved her acting career of twenty-five years in favour of pursuing a new career in the field of forensic psychology and is now at college, studying for a master's degree.