Felice Schachter was born on November 17, 1963, in New York City, to Suzanne Schachter, a theatrical manager, and Alex Schachter, an accountant and bankruptcy trustee. She has two younger sisters, Simone and Janine. Her mother helped her get her start in show business at just six months old when she appeared on the cover of American Baby magazine.

By the time she was nearly twenty, she had done more than 100 TV commercials for brands like Ivory Snow, Pampers, Downy, Baby Alive, and Jordache Jeans.

Felice Schachter began her show business career in 1975, appearing in an off-Broadway production of The Innocents and later in Time Again. She also danced in productions including The Taming of the Shrew with Stuttgart Ballet, Sleeping Beauty with Bolshoi Ballet, and Nutcracker Suite with the New York City Ballet.

She started her television career on the 1976 mini-series The Adams Chronicles. She then played what would be her most notable role, Nancy Olson, on The Facts of Life from 1979 to 1982.

She played the role regularly until she quit acting to pursue an education at Brown University in 1981, graduating with a B.A. in Semiotics in 1985. Although she continued to make guest appearances on the show, her first and only major film credit was as Bernadette in the 1982 movie Zapped!, starring opposite Scott Baio.

Other television roles included Diff'rent Strokes, the soap opera Love of Life, NBC Quiz Kids, Alice, New Monkees, and Love, American Style, among others.

After quitting acting to go to school, she was a radio anchor with the sports department of Brown University's WBRU in Providence, Rhode Island, and later a sports broadcaster for CBS Sports (1983-1985) and PRIME (1986-1987).

In the 1990s, she began working behind the camera, with production credits on such film and television projects as Magic Island, After The Game, the pilot for JAG, Uncle Sam Twilight of the Golds, High Tide, Born Free, The Citizen, Waiting For The Monkeys, The Gnomes' Great Adventure, Waste Land, Jackie, Knockaround Guys, and 30 Years to Life. She was the production coordinator for the series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Felice Schachter is also a special education teacher in New York City and has a son named William, born in October 2005.