Laurette Spang was born in Buffalo, New York but raised in Ann Arbor, Michigan. She grew up as the middle child of a chemist father and housewife mother. She has an older brother, Richard and a younger sister, Marilyn. As a dramatic major in college, she made a college trip to New York where a chance encounter with a soap opera producer led to an audition the following summer (after graduation), and a place at the Williamtown summer theatre. That led to a scholarship at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York. Spotted by a Universal talent scout, she signed a contract and arrived in Hollywood in 1972.