Judith Viorst
With Tips For Graduates •
Natalie Portman
Takes On 'Star Wars'
A Musical Dram
Set In Treblinka
Actress Camryn
Manheim's frank
nny new
and
memoir is about
growing
up fat
in a
thin-obsessed
culture —
and
riving.
DEBRA L. WALLACE
Special to The Jewish News
hat if you could take the one trait in yourself that drives
you crazy and turn it into an asset? Wouldn't it be heaven-
ly if you not only accepted but also celebrated yourself for
it?
That's the heart and soul of television and film star Camryn
Manheim's new book, Wake Up, IM Fat (Broadway Books; $23).
"I have taken [being fat] and used it to my advantage," Manheim says.
"I accepted my recent [Golden Globe and Emmy] awards proudly and
with such great celebration."
But the actress' acceptance of her weight has been gradual. For most
of my life, I pretty much hated myself because I was fat," she explained
recently from her Los Angeles home. Its sad that-you can be a whole
and good human being and hate yourself for one characteristic."
Manheim, the 38-year-old star of the popular legal drama The Practice,
Pr
often encounters women walking down the
street who instantly acknowledge that this radiant,
plus-size actress has positively changed their lives.
"When they recognize me, I see their eyes tear up
and their arms begin to stretch out to give me a
hug," she explains. "There are no words that need
to be exchanged. I am all too familiar with the suf-
fering and battles that we all fought and are trying
to overcome.
On The Practice, Manheim plays the pant-
suited attorney Ellenor Frutt, a passionate,
sharp-tongued defender noted for the 12
earrings she wears in one ear. Her film cred-
its include Happiness, Mercury Rising, Roily
and Michele's High School Reunion, Eraser
and The Road to Wellville.
LIVING LARGE on page 82
5/14
1999
Detroit Jewish News
75