Though best known for her supporting performances in films, Dillon began as an improvisational comedian and stage actress. Recalling her performance as Sonya in a 1961 student production of Chekhov's Uncle Vanya, Alan Schneider wrote:
What distinguished and made the whole attempt worthwhile for me was casting the role of Sonya with a young actress named Linda [sic] Dillon, who was a senior acting student at Goodman as well as a hanger-on with a Second City troupe that included two young performers named Barbara Harris and Alan Arkin. During our tryouts, John Reich, then the Goodman Theatre's artistic director, had seriously tried to discourage me from using Linda. He admitted her talent but warned me that she was highly volatile and completely unpredictable as an actress. He had found another actress whom he found much more suitable for Sonya. I insisted on using Linda, no matter the consequences. I was fascinated by the combination of her fragility and sensuality, intrigued with the unconventional way in which she was able to make a line seem utterly spontaneous, and impressed with her emotional range and richness. During our four weeks of rehearsal [...], I wound up alternately adoring and hating Linda. She always did too much and yet not enough. She was never the same twice in a given scene, even when she had found something wonderful last time. She was always wanting to quit the cast or leave school or kill herself. And yet, at the same time, I felt she was extraordinary, the most talented young actress I'd ever worked with, the potential peer of Geraldine Page and perhaps even Kim Stanley. I was sure she'd be a big star one day, and I wanted to be with her when that happened.[4]
In 1959, she acted in The Cry of Jazz, a short film dealing with jazz music and Black culture.[6] Dillon's first feature film was The April Fools in 1969. She also worked in television, including a guest-starring role in 1969 on an episode of the TV series Bonanza titled "A Lawman's Lot Is Not a Happy One" (Season 11). She co-starred with David Carradine in the 1976 Woody GuthriebiopicBound for Glory and was nominated in the Best Female Acting Debut category of the Golden Globe for her role as Memphis Sue.[7]
Dillon died on January 9, 2023, at the age of 83.[16] Following her death, she was cremated by the Neptune Society, with her ashes being given to her family.[19]
^ As Dillon explained in a 1962 interview, Hope was not her hometown, nor had her parents ever resided there. It was only because they had lost their previous child at birth that Floyd Clardy opted to bring Norine to Hope, where a doctor that he knew and trusted happened to practice.[3]
^Clarey, Kathey (April 17, 1979). "Please Stand By". The Fresno Bee. p. 18. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
^Williams, Gail (January 25, 1980). "Marriage Is Alive and Well". The Hollywood Reporter. p. 6. "Under Russ Mayberry's direction, Dillon is the only member of the cast that comes through the battle with even a spark of genuine humanity." Retrieved March 19, 2022.
Lyons, Herb (September 19, 1961). "Tower Ticker". Chicago Tribune. p. 22
"Education and Training for the Stage: The Goodman Memorial Theatre School of Drama". Volume 55 Number 4, 1961. The Art Institute of Chicago Quarterly. pp. 74, 76