She began her career as a featured performer and singer in the Billy Barnes Revues of the 1950s/60s, with Future husband and actor Ken Berry. She was married to Berry, with whom she adopted two children (John and Kate), from May 29, 1960, until June 1976. Joseph has since remarried, to David Lawrence. Her son John died of brain cancer in 2016 at the age of 51.

Some of her television credits are appearances on such memorable shows as The Andy Griffith Show (Season 4 Episode 17: "My Fair Ernest T. Bass" as Ramona Ankrum), The Dick Van Dyke Show (two appearances), That Girl, F Troop (Season 1 Episode 17: "Our Hero, What's His Name" as Corporal Randolph Agarn's girlfriend Betty Lou MacDonald), Hogan's Heroes (Season 1 Episode 28: "I Look Better in Basic Black" as Charlene Hemsley), McHale's Navy, Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C. (four appearances), The Doris Day Show, Petticoat Junction (1967 episode: 'A House Divided'), CHiPs (in a two-part episode), Full House and Designing Women (as Mary Jo's mother). She also appeared for a week on the game show Match Game '74. Although she appeared only once on the 1964 sitcom My Living Doll, as one of the few surviving actors to appear on the series she participated in a retrospective featurette included on the 2012 DVD release of the series.

In the early 1980s, Joseph helped form an organization for Celebrity wives overcoming divorce. The group, which included Lynn Landon, Patti Palmer Lewis, and Carol Lawrence, went on talk shows (such as The Phil Donahue Show) discussing the foibles of Celebrity split-ups. In recent years she has been heavily involved with the Screen Actors Guild as well as organizations providing care for stray animals. She has been a columnist for Toluca Lake's newspaper, The Tolucan Times, in which her signature sign off was "We'll talk."