After years of being on contract to 20th Century Fox alongside such actors as Tom Selleck, Dano joined the ABC soap opera One Life to Live in the role of Gretel Cummings from 1978 to 1980. From 1981 to 1982 she played Cynthia Haines on As the World Turns.
During and since her run in daytime, Dano has guest-starred on television series like Homicide: Life on the Street (1997), Desperate Housewives (2005), and What I Like About You (2006), as well as the 2007 film Reservation Road. In 2005 Dano appeared as the title character in Mame at the Bucks County, Playhouse.
Dano has written a style and fashion column for Soap Opera Digest on and off for years, and has had her own merchandise lines on QVC. In 1999 she won the Accessories Council of Excellence (ACE) Award for outstanding contributions to consumer awareness.
Lifetime Television dedicated an episode of its Intimate Portrait Celebrity biography series to Dano in 2000. From 1987 until 1992, she co-hosted the Lifetime talk show Attitudes and has both been a guest and guest-host on The View. Dano hosted an Another World reunion special on SOAPnet in 2003 for which she was later nominated for a Daytime Emmy for Outstanding Special Class Special.
Dano was born Linda Rae Wildermuth in Long Beach, California, to Evelyn (Delgado) and Ted Wildermuth. Dano was married to advertising executive Frank Attardi for over 20 years until his death in 2004. She has two stepchildren, three step grandchildren, a niece and a nephew.
