Vera Fischer was born in Blumenau, Santa Catarina, in Southern Brazil. Her father was a Nazi. Fischer never had a good relationship with him: My father was German, Nazi, and used to force me to read Hitler and beat me a lot, she wrote in a recent autobiography. Fischer was crowned Miss Brazil in 1969 which is what propelled her career to great fame. She also competed at Miss Universe 1969, becoming a semifinalist. The film that brought her onscreen reputation was A Superfemea, a pornochanchada of 1973. Among her theatrical appearances, she is best known for A Primeira Noite de Um Homem (2004), the adaptation of The Graduate by Miguel Falabella.

She is considered as a notable sex symbol in Brazil. In 1982 and in 2000, she did nude photoshoots for the Brazilian issue of the Playboy magazine. She starred in telenovelas such as El Clon, Lacos de Familia (Family Ties). She has a daughter and a son from her respective marriages.