Camryn Manheim

Debra Frances “Camryn” Manheim (born March 8, 1961) is an American actress known for her roles as attorney Ellenor Frutt on ABC’s The Practice, Delia Banks on CBS’s Ghost Whisperer, Gladys Presley in the 2005 miniseries Elvis, and “Control” on Person of Interest. In 1999, Manheim won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her work on The Practice.

Debra Manheim was born in West Caldwell, New Jersey into a Jewish family,[2][3] 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.[4][5] 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.[6]

When Manheim was in sixth grade, her family relocated to Southern California, settling in Long Beach, where she attended Woodrow Wilson Classical High School.[7] She became interested in acting after working at a Renaissance faire during high school.[8] 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.[9] Her brother, Karl Manheim, is a law professor at Loyola Law School