Debra Frances "Camryn" Manheim (born March 8, 1961)[2] is an American actress who first came to attention with her off-Broadway one-woman show, "Wake Up, I'm Fat", in 1994. She is known for her portrayals of Ellenor Frutt on The Practice (1997–2004), Delia Banks on Ghost Whisperer (2006–2010), "Control" on Person of Interest (2013–2015), Lieutenant Cosgrove on Stumptown (2019–2020), and Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries Elvis.
Manheim was born in West Caldwell, New Jersey, into a Jewish family,[3][4] the daughter of Sylvia (née Nuchow), a teacher, and Jerome Manheim, a mathematics professor and the Dean of Letters and Science at California State University Long Beach.[5][6] Her family relocated several times in her early childhood due to her father taking new teaching positions, and she spent her early years in Michigan and Peoria, Illinois.[7]
Manheim (lower left) on the Spring 2003 cover of Ms. magazine
Manheim worked for a while as a sign language interpreter at hospitals.[13] Her knowledge of sign language was used on The Practice, in the Law & Order episodes "Benevolence" (1993) and "Castle in the Sky" (2024),[14] and in her role as a child behavioral psychologist in the movie Mercury Rising.[citation needed] In 1983, she made a brief appearance as a girl in an elevator in Sudden Impact in the post-courtroom scene at the beginning.
Manheim's breakthrough was her one-woman show "Wake Up, I'm Fat", which played off-Broadway at Classic Stage Company in 1994.[15] She adapted the show into a book of the same name, which was published by Broadway Books in 1999.[16]
