Cynthia was born Cynthia S. Baker in Amarillo, Texas on 20 August 1947. She started her acting career at Northern Illinois University in Dekalb, Illinois, in 1965. Through her extremely talented work, Cynthia was eventually signed with Shirley Hamilton Talent in Chicago, one of Chicago's oldest and most prestigious talent agencies. With a fresh start, Cynthia starred in many of Chicago's well known plays of the 1970s. Cynthia also became an "ace in the hole" for world-famous playwright 'Tennessee Williams (I)'. She starred in many of his productions until his untimely passing. Cynthia would later go on to work with Robert Redford, Tom Cruise, Roger Moore, Harrison Ford, Tommy Lee Jones, Tom Wilkerson, Bill Peterson and many more. Cynthia has also worked with Gregory Mosher, Bryan Forbes and the Cohen Brothers.