Ann Robinson was born on May 25, 1929, in Hollywood, California, and grew up attending Hollywood High School. Her father worked at the Bank of Hollywood and taught her how to ride horses when she was just three years old, which led to her first professional work in Hollywood as a stunt rider in the film "Frenchie" with Shelley Winters.

Her career took off in the early 1950s when Paramount Pictures signed her as an actress. Her first leading role was as "Sylvia Van Buren" in the science-fiction classic "The War of the Worlds" (1953), co-starring with Gene Barry.

She reprised this role in two later films and in three episodes of the television series "War of the Worlds" (1988). Ann Robinson also starred in the 1954 film "Dragnet" as a Los Angeles police officer opposite Jack Webb and Ben Alexander.

Throughout her career, she appeared in several Westerns such as "The Cimarron Kid" (1951) with Audie Murphy, "Gun Brothers" (1956), and "Gun Duel in Durango" (1957). She also had roles in "Imitation of Life" (1959) and the Doris Day thriller "Julie" (1956).

Her television roles included appearances on "Adam-12," "Alfred Hitchcock Presents," "Bachelor Father," "Ben Casey," "Biff Baker, U.S.A.," "The Bob Cummings Show," "The George Burns and Gracie Allen Show," "Days of Our Lives," "Four Star Playhouse," "General Hospital," "Gilligan's Island," "It's a Great Life," "The Millionaire," "My Little Margie," "Perry Mason," "Peter Gunn," "Police Woman," "Rawhide," "Rocky Jones Space Ranger," "Rory Calhoun's The Texan," "Waterfront," and "The Life and Legend of Wyatt Earp."

Ann Robinson was married to matador Jaime Bravo from 1957 to 1967, with whom she had two sons, Jaime Jr., who became a director with ABC Sports, and Estefan Bravo, a musician. She later married real estate broker Joseph Valdez in 1987, and they divorced in 2017.