Dorothy Tristan made her screen debut in the 1970 cult classic End of the Road. She played a pivotal role in the 1971 thriller Klute, and in 1973, starred in another cult favorite, Scarecrow. Her film career also included notable roles in Man on a Swing and Down and Out in Beverly Hills. As she fought Alzheimer’s disease, Tristan wrote the screenplay for The Looking Glass, a film about a woman beginning to experience dementia, in which she also starred despite struggling to remember her lines. Her television credits featured appearances on Kojak, The Incredible Hulk, and The Waltons.

Dorothy painted throughout her life, but she devoted herself to her art in her later years.