Born in New York City, Loring started acting in 1951 at the age of seven, playing the role of Patti Barron in the television soap opera Search for Tomorrow. She remained in the role for ten years, until she graduated from high school in 1961, after which she explored other opportunities, including appearances in films such as Splendor in the Grass (1961) and Pressure Point (1962).

In 1963, Loring made 11 appearances as Patty Walker, a girl who, due to her wanting to study drama in London, lived with the family of her father's wartime best friend, while the friend's daughter lived with Patty's family in New York, in the comedy series Fair Exchange.

Loring played Barbara Erskine, the daughter of Inspector Lewis Erskine (Efrem Zimbalist, Jr.), during the first season (1965-1966) of The F.B.I. She played Susan Foster in the 1964 episode "The Case of the Paper Bullets" on Perry Mason. Also in 1964, she played Filene in the "Memo From Purgatory" episode of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour as well as playing Bonnie Daniels in the "Behind the Locked Door" episode of the same series. In 1965, she played Maybelle Williams in "Judgement in Heaven", the Christmas episode of the western series The Big Valley.

In 1966, she played an Artist "Carma Vasquez" in "The Night of the Flaming Ghost" episode of The Wild Wild West. In 1967, she guest-starred in two Season 3 episodes of The Man from U.N.C.L.E. in "The Test Tube Killer Affair" as "Christine Hobson" and "The Deadly Smorgasbord Affair" as "Neila Nillson", daughter of a scientist with a suspended animation machine. Other television work included The Eleventh Hour, Daniel Boone, Return to Peyton Place, and The Mod Squad.

Loring was married to actor Roy Thinnes from 1967 to 1984, when they divorced. They have a son, Christopher Dylan Thinnes (born 1969) and daughter, Casey Thinnes, (born 1974). In 1967, Loring appeared with Thinnes in the episode "Panic" of The Invaders. Thinnes and Loring played husband and wife in the feature film Doppelgänger (1969) and the 1971 TV movie Black Noon (1971), and also appeared together in the TV horror film The Horror at 37,000 Feet (1973).

In 1975, she discontinued acting in favor of a career in production, of both made-for-TV movies and feature films such as Mr. Mom (1983). In 1979, Loring worked as the casting Director for a TV movie, "Raid on Coffeyville". She shifted into producing and, for several years, had an initially fruitful partnership with Aaron Spelling. In the late 1980s, she assumed the presidency of the prestigious "MGM/UA Television Productions". Loring, then only in her 40s, was one of the first women to hold such a high-ranking role in Hollywood.