Outside of Trek, she is a best known for her role as Sophia on the daytime soap opera Santa Barbara through nearly its entire run from 1984 through 1993. This role originally belonged to Star Trek: Voyager guest star Rosemary Forsyth, but McConnell replaced her during the show's first season. Her co-stars on this series have included fellow Trek alumni Judith Anderson, Ian Abercrombie, Jeff Corey, Henry Darrow, Anthony De Longis, Samantha Eggar, Jim Fitzpatrick, Ellen Geer, Bruce Gray, Gregory Itzin, Lenore Kasdorf, Janet MacLachlan, Mark Margolis, Leigh J. McCloskey, France Nuyen, William Schallert, Brian Tochi, and Ray Walston.