Corley was born Cleo Pat Corley in Dallas, Texas, the son of Ada Lee (née Martin) and R.L. Corley. He got his start in the entertainment business as a teenage ballet dancer for the Stockton Ballet where he performed for three seasons. While serving in the U.S. Army during the Korean War, Corley helped put on entertainment shows for the brass while stationed in France. After his honorable discharge, he entered Stockton College on the G.I. Bill where he met his future second wife, Iris Carter, a younger student, champion debater and a locally acclaimed actress.
After moving to New York City he worked as a waiter, attended the American Theatre Wing, studied under Uta Hagen and auditioned for plays. Corley and his wife toured in summer stock in Indiana and New Jersey with his young daughter Troy in tow. His first Broadway appearance was in James Baldwin's Blues for Mr. Charlie, a production by the Actors Studio, where Corley had been accepted as a member. Early in his career he shared the stage with future stars Al Pacino and James Earl Jones in the Off-Broadway play The Peace Creeps. In the 1970s, Corley appeared in several Broadway productions including Of Mice and Men with James Earl Jones and Sweet Bird of Youth with Christopher Walken.
Corley's Hollywood career began in 1969 in TV with a small role in N.Y.P.D. and a few television commercials. His first feature film roles were in Gordon Parks' The Super Cops and the comedy Law and Disorder with Carroll O'Connor and Ernest Borgnine. He also appeared in Coming Home and in an early Oliver Stone feature, The Hand, with Michael Caine.

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