Manheim was born Debra Frances Manheim in West Caldwell, New Jersey, the daughter of Sylvia, a teacher, and Jerome Manheim, a mathematics professor. Her family is Jewish. Manheim became interested in acting after working at a Renaissance fair in high school. Manheim graduated from UCSC with a BFA degree in 1984 and NYU with an MFA degree in 1987.

Manheim worked for a while as a sign language interpreter at hospitals. Her knowledge of sign language was utilized at times on The Practice and also for her role as a Child Behavioral Psychologist in the movie Mercury Rising. In 1998, Manheim collected an Emmy for her work on The Practice and exclaimed that "This is for all the fat girls!" She followed up on this statement with an autobiography Read more...

Manheim is an avid human rights activist with a focus on women's rights, fat acceptance, and gay rights. She is known to have made contributions to a variety of charities, notably RAINN. Manheim has also been involved with the Los Angeles based charity, Bet Tzedek Legal Services - The House of Justice, serving as a co-chair for their annual fundraiser, The Justice Ball. She maintains her own official Read more...