Born Judith Mae Hess in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, she came from a show business family and was encouraged to study dance and acting. Her acting career began as a teenager with regular appearances on Howdy Doody as Princess Summer-Fall-Winter-Spring. Like her mother, she became a chorus girl but then went on to star in a major role in the Rodgers and Hammerstein musical, Pipe Dream. Life magazine did a story on rising Broadway talent with Tyler on the magazine's cover as one of the up-and-coming stars.

Offered an opportunity in Hollywood, Judy Tyler appeared in the film Bop Girl Goes Calypso then starred opposite Elvis Presley in Jailhouse Rock. After filming of the Presley movie finished, she and her second husband, Greg Lafayette, took a vacation. While driving through Wyoming, they were involved in an automobile accident that claimed both their lives.