Born in Liverpool and raised in the Hunt's Cross area, Tushingham began her career working backstage at the Liverpool Playhouse. Her screen debut was in A Taste of Honey (1961). Other performances included Girl with Green Eyes (1963), The Leather Boys (1964),The Knack …and How to Get It (1965), Doctor Zhivago (1965), The Trap (1966), Smashing Time (1967), The Bed Sitting Room (1969) and The 'Human' Factor (1975). She also co-starred as Margaret Sheen in the TV movie Green Eyes (1977), the touching story of a Vietnam vet who returns to Southeast Asia after the war to find his son.