Camryn Manheim has never played by the rules. Her fierce determination to defy the beauty myth, the naysayers and casting stereotypes has resulted in one of today's most remarkable and unique Hollywood success stories.

The night Camryn Manheim accepted the Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series, she proudly raised the statue above her head and proclaimed, “This is for all the fat girls!” Manheim’s groundbreaking role as the strong-willed, smart defense attorney, Eleanor Frutt, on ABC’s The Practice, has changed the face of television. After years of struggling to be accepted as a plus-size actress, Manheim had finally succeeded against all odds in an industry fraught with prejudice and stereotypes.
 
Manheim’s Hollywood success did not come easily. In her New York Times bestseller, Wake Up I'm Fat!, Manheim details her life from “victim to victor.” With candor and humor, she recounts growing up in California, “where people shopped for groceries in bikinis,” and tells of her extremely conflicted experience at NYU’s Drama School.

Pressured by family and peers to lose weight and fit the Hollywood actress mold, Manheim took amphetamines for a year, lost 100 pounds, and went into a tailspin of self-destruction and depression. When she found herself at the bottom of the barrel, she quit taking speed and began, with difficulty, recharging her life and career. Through it all, Manheim developed “warrior skills” and an “I'll show you” attitude.

In a TIME magazine essay for 2025 predictions, she wrote, “I dream of a time when we can all accept ourselves and one another. My hope is that by 2025 I’ll no longer be getting letters every week from young girls who hate themselves because of the way they look.”
 

A dynamic speaker who infuses the audience with her enthusiasm. Her message is loud and clear, and is applicable not only to those pursuing or considering a career in the arts, but to humanity at large.

University of Portland

After receiving her Masters of Fine Arts, Manheim performed on stage for several years, including at the Yale Repertory Theater and the New York Shakespeare Festival. She received an Obie Award for her role in Missing Persons.

Her recent film credits include The Laramie Project, Happiness, Romy and Michelle’s High School Reunion, and Dark Waters. In 2001 she made her producing debut in Kiss My Act, a modern female version of Cyrano de Bergerac. She has appeared on such TV shows as Law & Order, Two and a Half Men, Ally McBeal, and The L Word. For her role in The Practice she also won a Golden Globe.

In 2006, Manheim joined the cast of the CBS series Ghost Whisperer, starring Jennifer Love Hewitt. She can also be seen in the upcoming film "Slipstream," Sir Anthony Hopkins’ writing and directorial debut.

Manheim’s social activism has included working with the disabled, the American Civil Liberties Union and Planned Parenthood. She has been honored by the National Council of Jewish Women and the National Lawyers Guild and received an E! Fashion award from Joan Rivers, which she claims was the hardest one to get.

Manheim was named one of the “Most Intriguing People” by People and a "Woman of the Year” by Glamour. Always passionate, with a dash of irreverance, she encourages her audience to be brave and to understand that “life is not a dress rehearsal.”