Camryn Manheim to Play Nurse in Romeo and Juliet in Central Park

Camryn Manheim, who won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her work on the popular legal TV series The Practice, has signed up for a return to the stage. She will play the Nurse in the Public Theater's Shakespeare in the Park production of Romeo and Juliet.

As a New York stage actress, Manheim appeared in several off-Broadway productions in the late 80s and early 90s including Stella, Woyzeck at the Public, The Triumph of Love, Sin and Missing Persons at the Atlantic Theater, for which she won an Obie Award and was nominated for a Drama Desk Award. She also appeared as Lucetta in the 1994 Shakespeare in the Park production of Two Gentlemen of Verona. Manheim received great attention and acclaim for her 1995 solo show at the Public Theater called Wake Up, I'm Fat, which was later adapted into a book. Although she has never appeared on Broadway, Manheim considered playing Jessie in the 2004 revival of 'night, Mother, a role that eventually went to Edie Falco.

Best known for playing Ellenor Frutt in The Practice, which ran on ABC from 1997 to 2004, she has also appeared on TV shows including Law & Order, Ally McBeal, Family Guy, Will & Grace, Boston Public, Strong Medicine, Two and a Half Men, The L Word, How I Met My Mother and a recent stint on Ghost Whisperer. She also starred as matriarch Gladys Presley in the TV-movie Elvis, for which she was nominated for both an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe. Manheim has also appeared in more than two dozen big screen films.

Directed by Michael Greif Grey Gardens, Rent, Romeo & Juliet will run from June 5 to July 8 at the Delacorte Theater in Central Park. As previously announced, Oscar Isaac and Lauren Ambrose will play the title roles.