While she had Broadway roles in "Hair" and "Grease", Candace Early is most famous for her role as Donna Beck Tyler Cortlandt Sago Tyler, on the soap opera All My Children, a role she played from 1976 to 1992. Donna was originally a troubled youth, who was a runaway and a prostitute. In her first appearance on All My Children Donna is found in a hospital bed and in a coma after being beaten up by her pimp, Tyrone. But the actress playing the part of Donna was not Candice Earley but a different actress originally hired to play the part. The producers were unsatisfied with the acting ability of this actress and Earley was hired to play the part which was only slated to be a short-term role.

Earley's portrayal proved popular with viewers, and won an award for Most Exciting New Actress in the first annual Soapies held in 1977 (these awards are now known as the Soap Opera Digest Awards). Over time, the character of Donna grew into a mature woman with a gift for singing. Earley was written out of the show in 1992. At time of this posting, Candice is 66 years old.