Camryn Manheim
About
Biography
Filmography
Family & Companions
Bibliography
Biography
Camryn Manheim was an American actress who was best known for her Emmy Award-winning role as Ellenor Frutt on the legal drama "The Practice" (ABC, 1997-2004). Born in New Jersey and raised in Peoria, Illinois and Long Beach, California, Manheim first began acting in high school after she attended a Renaissance Fair. She was fascinated by the costumes and pure spectacle of it all, and immediately decided to pursue acting as a career. She would later go on to earn her BFA from the University of California, Santa Cruz, before entering the prestigious graduate acting program at New York University. After earning her MFA in acting from NYU, Manheim stayed in New York to pursue her acting career full-time. It was around this time that she began immersing herself in theater, and soon began appearing in numerous plays each year. As a day job Manheim worked at hospitals as a sign language interpreter, a skill that she would later use on an episode of "The Practice." By the mid-90s Manheim was starting to pick up bit parts in films and on television, most notably "Law & Order" (NBC, 1990-2010), "The Road to Wellville" (1994), and "Jeffrey" (1995). In 1995 Manheim also received wide acclaim for her successful one-woman show "Wake Up, I'm Fat" (1995), which appeared on stages in New York. Her big break, however, came in 1997 when she was cast on the ABC legal drama "The Practice." Manheim would eventually go on to receive an Emmy for her performance, and appeared in all 167 episodes of the series. After "The Practice" ended its run in 2004 Manheim continued racking up roles on television, including recurring parts on "Ghost Whisperer" (CBS, 2005-2010), "Extant" (CBS, 2014-15), and "Person of Interest" (CBS, 2011-16). Having been fortunate enough to have worked steadily for over 20 years, 2018 also proved to be a banner year for Manheim. In addition to joining the cast of the comedy "Living Biblically" (CBS, 2018- ), she also appeared on the historical miniseries "Waco" (Spike, 2018).
Filmography
Cast (Feature Film)
Producer (Feature Film)
Special Thanks (Feature Film)
Cast (Special)
Misc. Crew (Special)
Cast (TV Mini-Series)
Life Events
1977
Had her first professional "acting" role as a wench at the Renaissance Faire in Los Angeles
1987
Made New York stage debut in Tony Kushner's "Hydriotaphia"
1990
Made screen debut with a bit part in "The Bonfire of the Vanities"
1991
Had early TV work guest-starring on "Law & Order" (NBC) for the first of four times
1993
Starred in one-person Off-Broadway show, "Wake Up, I'm Fat"
1994
Co-starred in "The Road to Wellville"
1995
Made TV-movie debut in "Deadly Whispers" (CBS)
1997
Had small role in "Romy and Michele's High School Reunion"
1997
Appeared as Ellenor Frutt on ABC's "The Practice"
1998
Published her book <i>Wake Up, I'm Fat!</i>, after her stage show
2000
Played Snow White in the television mini series "The 10th Kingdom"
2001
Appeared in "A Girl Thing," starring Kate Capshaw, Stockard Channing and Mia Farrow
2002
Cast in "The Laramie Project," the true story of an American town in the wake of the murder of Matthew Shepard
2003
Cast in the comedy "Scary Movie 3" written by the Wayans brothers
2005
Cast in Lasse Hallström's "An Unfinished Life" with Robert Redford and Jennifer Lopez
2005
Earned an Emmy and Golden Globe nomination for her portrayal of Gladys Presley in the CBS miniseries "Elvis"
2006
Joined the cast of "Ghost Whisperer"
2007
Had a recurring guest role on "Hannah Montana"
2011
Played A.D.A. Kim Mendelsohn on the short-lived crime comedy series "Harry's Law"
2014
Cast as Sam Barton on "Extant"
2017
Cast in a recurring guest role on "Major Crimes"
2018
Was a supporting character on "By the Book"
Family
Companions
