BIOGRAPHY

Camryn Manheim is best known for her portrayal of defense attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC's Emmy Award-winning drama The Practice. In 1998 she won an Emmy Award for Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, and in 1999 she won a Golden Globe for her work in the same role. She was named one of the "Most Intriguing People of the Year" by no less an arbiter of popular taste than People Magazine, one of the "Most Fascinating Women of the Year" by Ladies Home Journal, and one of Glamour Magazine's "Women of the Year."  She was also nominated for a Golden Globe Award and Emmy Award for her portrayal of Elvis Presley's mother in the 2005 mini-series Elvis.

Presently, she can be seen in CBS’s hit series, The Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, and recently portrayed school nurse Kim Daly in the Lifetime Original Movie, The Pregnancy Pact. 

Manheim will never forget her roots in the New York Theater. After getting her master's degree from the prestigious Acting Program at New York University, Camryn spent the next eight years performing in some of the best and worst off-Broadway Theaters. She is proud to have worked at such renowned theaters as the New York Shakespeare Festival, Lincoln Center, Yale Repertory, New York Theater Workshop, The Atlantic Theater, Classic Stage Company, Second Stage and Home for Contemporary Theater. In 1995 she won an OBIE Award for her portrayal of Gemma in Craig Lucas' Missing Persons, and in 1996 Camryn wrote and starred in her one-woman show, Wake Up, I'm Fat!, which played to sold out audiences at The Public Theater.

Following her one-woman show, Camryn landed parts in The Road to Wellville, Jeffrey, Eraser and Romy and Michelle's High School Reunion, and she received a National Board of Review Award for her portrayal of a homicidal loner in the controversial and talked about movie, Happiness, written and directed by Todd Solondz. She also appeared in the 2004 film, Blackout, starring Ashley Judd and Samuel L. Jackson, and did a cameo in the HBO film The Laramie Project, based on the townspeople of Laramie, Wyoming after Matthew Shepard was killed. Other recent projects include the film Dark Water, starring Jennifer Connelly; Mike Nichol's What Planet Are You From with Gary Shandling and Annette Bening; NBC's mini series, The Tenth Kingdom, where she appeared as Snow White; The ABC/Disney movie of the week, The Loretta Claiborne Story; the Showtime miniseries, A Girl Thing;  An Unfinished Life, directed by Lasse Hallstrom; and Slipstream, Sir Anthony Hopkins’ writing and directorial debut. Her other television credits include appearances on Will & Grace, Chicago Hope, Ally McBeal, Gideon’s Crossing, Law & Order, The L Word and Hannah Montana.

Born in Caldwell, N.J. and raised in the Mid-West and Southern California, Manheim is the daughter of outspoken, politically aware parents who passed their activism on to all of their children. Camryn is a tireless worker for the rights of the disabled, particularly the deaf. She is a board member of the American Civil Liberties Union, an active supporter of The Feminist Majority, Planned Parenthood, The ALS Project and the size acceptance movement. Her own journey to self-acceptance is documented in her New York Times bestselling book, Wake Up, I'm Fat! published in 1999 by Broadway Books.

Manheim received her Bachelor of Arts degree at the University of California at Santa Cruz, and her Masters of Fine Arts degree at New York University. She has guest lectured and spoken all over the United States. She resides in Los Angeles California with her son, Milo.

List of Awards/Honors:

1995 Village Voice Obie Award for Off-Broadway performance in Missing Persons
1998 Emmy for Best supporting Actress on a drama series
1999 Best supporting Actress nomination
1999 Viewers for Quality Television award
1999 Emmy nomination for Best supporting Actress
1999 Golden Globe for Best Supporting Actress
1999 Television Critics Association award nomination for individual achievement in a drama
1999 Women in Film - Lucy Award, for innovation in television
1999 International Press Academy - Golden Satellite award, for best performance by an actress in a drama series
2000 American Women in Radio-Genie Award.

She is also proud to have been honored by The National Council of Jewish Women, Hadassah, and the National Lawyers Guild.