Sykes played Jim Brown's love interest in Black Gunn. According to Brown, he was responsible for her being cast in the role, an effort he made because he was attracted to her in real life. From 1973-74, she co-starred on Ozzie's Girls as a college student boarding with Ozzie and Harriet Nelson.
She played the character Mandy, one of Jimmie Walker's girlfriends on the 1970s sitcom, Good Times, made a starring role appearance on the first season of The Streets of San Francisco, and as Summer Johnson on the CBS series, Executive Suite. Sykes was married to musician Gil Scott-Heron from 1978 to 1987 and is the mother of poet Gia Scott-Heron. She is married to Paul C. Hudson, whom she married on May 19, 1995.
