Elizabeth MacRae was born on February 22, 1936, in Columbia, South Carolina, and grew up in Fayetteville, North Carolina. She was the middle child of three children of Alabama native Dorothy Hendon and James C. MacRae, an attorney. Her parents encouraged her artistic talents from a young age, especially in drawing and painting portraits.

After graduating from Holton-Arms School in Washington, D.C., Elizabeth decided to pursue an acting career and moved to New York City in 1956 to study with Uta Hagen at the Herbert Berghof Studio.

She gained stage experience in off-Broadway and summer-stock productions and supported herself through commissions for her artwork.

Elizabeth MacRae made her television debut in 1958 with an episode of "The Verdict Is Yours" and went on to appear in numerous TV series throughout the 1960s and 1970s, including "Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C.," where she played the recurring role of Lou-Ann Poovie, and "Gunsmoke," where she portrayed Festus's girlfriend.

She also appeared in several feature films, such as "The Incredible Mr. Limpet" (1964), "For Love or Money" (1963), and Francis Ford Coppola's "The Conversation" (1974), where she played a seductress to Gene Hackman's character.

Her personal life included three marriages. She first married Amos Morehead Stack Jr. in 1955, but the details of their marriage and divorce are not publicly known. In 1965, she married actor and writer Nedrick Young, but he passed away three years later from heart disease.

In 1969, Elizabeth married Charles Day Halsey Jr., an executive at Wells Fargo, and they remained together until his death in 2024.

Throughout her career, she received recognition for her work, although she did not win major awards. She retired from acting in 1989 and spent the 1990s counseling those addicted to drugs and alcohol.

Elizabeth MacRae passed away on May 27, 2024, at the age of 88 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, leaving behind a legacy of artistic talent and dedication to her craft.