Camryn Manheim Biography

Camryn Manheim (born March 8, 1961) is an American actress known primarily for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's The Practice, Delia Banks on CBS's Ghost Whisperer and as Elvis's mother, Gladys Presley in the 2005 mini-series Elvis.

Early life

Manheim was born Debra Frances Manheim in Caldwell, New Jersey and grew up in Peoria, Illinois. She is the daughter of Sylvia, a teacher, and Jerome Manheim, a mathematics professor. Her family is Jewish. Manheim became interested in acting after working at a Renaissance fair in high school. Manheim graduated from University of California, Santa Cruz with a BFA degree in 1984 and New York University's Tisch School of the Arts Graduate Acting Program with an MFA degree in 1987.

Career

Manheim worked for a while as a sign language interpreter at hospitals. Her knowledge of sign language was used on The Practice, in an episode of Law & Order, and in her role as a child behavioral psychologist in the movie Mercury Rising. In 1983, she made a brief appearance as a girl in an elevator in Sudden Impact alongside Clint Eastwood, in the post-courtroom scene at the beginning. In the mid-1980s, Manheim appeared as a "trebekkie" in a practical joke pulled on Alex Trebek on Bloopers and Practical Jokes. In 1998, Manheim collected an Emmy for her work on The Practice and exclaimed that, "This is for all the fat girls!" She followed up on this statement with a one-woman show titled Wake Up, I'm Fat! followed by her autobiography with the same name. In 1999, she was awarded the Women in Film [[Women_in_Film_Crystal_+_Lucy_Awards#THE_LUCY_AWARD|Lucy Award]].

In 2005, Manheim earned Golden Globe and Emmy nominations for her work in the miniseries Elvis, and the following year she joined the cast of Ghost Whisperer. Her other television credits include Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, Family Guy, Will & Grace, Boston Public, Two and a Half Men, The L Word, How I Met Your Mother and Hannah Montana. She also voiced Juliet in the episode "Company Picnic" of the Dilbert on UPN in 2000.

In addition, Manheim has several film credits. These include Romy and Michele's High School Reunion, Happiness (which earned her and her co-stars a National Board of Review Award for Best Acting by an Ensemble), The Laramie Project, Scary Movie 3, Dark Water and An Unfinished Life.

Personal life

Manheim has been involved with the Los Angeles-based charity, Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice, serving as a co-chair for their annual fundraiser, The Justice Ball. Her brother, Karl Manheim, is a law professor at Loyola Law School. Her only child, son Milo, was born March 6th 2001, two days before her 40th Birthday.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1983	Sudden Impact	Girl in elevator	Uncredited
1985	Creator	Unknown	Uncredited
1994	The Road to Wellville	Virginia Cranehill
1994	Cracking Up	Unknown
1995	Deadly Whispers	Betty	Television movie
1995	Jeffrey	Single Woman
1996	Erase	Nurse
1997	David Searching	Gwen
1997	Romy and Michele's High School Reunion	Toby Walters
1998	Wide Awake	Sister Sophia
1998	Mercury Rising	Dr. London
1998	Happiness	Kristina	National Board of Review Award for Best Cast
1998	You Are Here	Registry Woman
1998	The Tic Code	Mrs. Swensrut
1998	Fool's Gold	Patricia
1999	Joe the King	Mrs. Basil
1999	East of A	Agatha
2000	Loretta Clairborne Story	Janet MacFarland	Television movie
2000	What Planet Are You From?	Alison
2001	Jennifer	Nurse	Television movie
2001	A Girl Thing	Suzanne Nabor	Television movie
2001	Kiss My Act	Samantha Berger	Television movie
2002	The Laramie Project	Rebecca Hillicker	Television movie
2003	Scary Movie 3	Trooper
2005	The Land Before Time XI: Invasion of the Tinysauruses	Tria
2005	Dark Water	Teacher
2005	Elvis	Gladys Presley	Television movie Nominated"?Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Nominated"?Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film
2005	An Unfinished Life "	Nina
2005	Marilyn Hotchkiss' Ballroom Dancing and Charm School	Lisa Gobar
2006	The Land Before Time XII: The Great Day of the Flyers	Tria
2007	Slipstream	Barbara
2009	Jesse Stone: Thin Ice	Elizabeth Blue	Television movie
2009	Just Peck	Ms. Wood
2010	The Pregnancy Pact	Nurse Daly	Television movie
2013	The Makeover	Colleen	Television movie
2013	The Hot Flashes	Roxie Rosales

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1991	Law & Order	Leila	Episode: "Life Choice"
1993	Law & Order	Martha Rollins	Episode: "Benevolence"
1994	Law & Order	Beatrice Hines	Episode: "Nurture"
1994	New York Undercover	Lawyer	Episode: "Blondes Have More Fun"
1995	ABC Afterschool Special	Risa	Episode: "Notes for My Daughter"
1995	One Life to Live	Rabbi Heller	2 episodes
1996	Chicago Hope	Marge Stewart	Episode: "Sexual Perversity in Chicago Hope"
1997-2004	The Practice	Ellenor Frutt	165 episodes Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress " Series, Miniseries or Television Film Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Satellite Award for Best Actress " Television Series Drama Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Drama Series Nominated"?Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series Nominated"?Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series (1999-2001) Nominated"?Television Critics Association Award for Individual Achievement in Drama Nominated"?Viewers for Quality Television Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Quality Drama Series (1998, 2000)
1998	Ally McBeal	Ellenor Frutt	Episode: "The Inmates"
2000	The 10th Kingdom	Snow White	2 episodes
2000	Family Guy	Voice	Episode: "Dammit Janet"
2000	Will & Grace	Sue	Episode: "Gypsies, Tramps and Weed"
2001	Boston Public	Ellenor Frutt	Episode: "Chapter Thirteen"
2003	The System	Peggy Barker	9 episodes
2004	Strong Medicine	June	Episode: "Cinderella in Scrubs"
2004	Higglytown Heroes	Plumber Hero	Episode: "Twinkle Tooth"
2004	The L Word	Veronica Bloom	4 episodes
2004	Two and a Half Men	Daisy Ray	Episode: "A Kosher Slaughter House Out in Fontana"
2005	How I Met Your Mother	Ellen Pierce	Episode: "Matchmaker"
2006-2010	Ghost Whisperer	Delia Banks	84 episodes
2007	Hannah Montana	Margo	2 episodes
2011-2012	Harry's Law	Kim Mendelsohn	5 episodes
2013	Criminal Minds	Carla Hines	2 Episodes