Yothers was born in Whittier, California, but spent half of the year in Flint, Michigan. Her father, Robert Yothers, was a television producer. She has three brothers, Jeffrey, Randy (Poindexter, who was in Return from Witch Mountain was born on 25 July 1966 in Los Angeles) and Cory, who all acted in commercials as children.
Beginning a career as a child actor at the age of three, she is best known for her role as Jennifer Keaton on the hit National Broadcasting Company series Family Ties, as well as for her roles in numerous television films throughout the 1980s and early 1990s including The Cherokee Trail, Crash Course, and Spunk: The Tonya Harding Story among others Her brother, Cory (born in 1972) appeared in numerous films and television shows throughout the early 1980s, often credited as "Bumper" Yothers. Yothers began her acting career in television advertisements at age three.
Her first cinema role was in the 1981 television movie The Cherokee Trail.
She also appeared in the 1982 feature film Shoot the Moon. Her most famous role was as Jennifer Keaton, the younger daughter in the television comedy Family Ties from 1982 to 1989.
She also competed in the Battle of the Network Stars in December 1988. When Family Ties ended, Yothers abandoned her blonde hair color and has since worn it black.
She provided the lead vocals while Cory played keyboard.
In 1998, Jaded released their self-titled Civil Defense, which was co-written by Cory Yothers, Michael Anderson, Tina Yothers & Jaded and performed by Tina Yothers (lead vocals), Michael Anderson (guitars/vocals), Jerry France (guitars/vocals), Larry Rosales (drums), and Mike Wilson (bass). Additional musicians were Philosophy Jordan from the Orange County band Number Doubt on Trumpet, and a DJ, name unknown. Previously, Yothers sang a cover of The Raes song "Baby I"m Back in Love Again", which she would later record as a single, in a Family Ties episode "Band on the Run" (original tx: February 26, 1987).
After a nine-year absence from acting, Yothers was given the lead role in Lovelace the Musical, a 2004 stage show based on the life of former pornographic movie star Linda Lovelace.
She followed that up with a stint as a stock player in the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theater in Boca Raton, Florida from 2005 to 2007. Yothers appeared on the fourth season of the Video Hits One reality television show Celebrity Fit Club, which began on August 6, 2006.
After Yothers"s second pregnancy, she appeared on Celebrity Fit Club: Boot Camp to try get back to her post-Fit Club weight. On January 17, 2012 she was featured on the American Broadcasting Company show Celebrity Wife Swap, where she traded places with Niecy Nash of Reno 911!.
In February 2013, Yothers appeared on an episode of the TLC series What Not To Wear.
