Dinah Manoff

Dinah Manoff was born on January 25, 1956, in New York City, to actress, director, and writer Lee Grant and screenwriter Arnold Manoff. Her mother is of Polish and Ukrainian Jewish descent, and her father's parents emigrated from Vilnius. Her half-brother, Tom Manoff, is a composer and classical music critic for NPR's All Things Considered, and her stepfather is producer Joseph Feury. Manoff grew up in both New York City and Malibu, California, attending the New Lincoln School and Santa Monica High School before training at the Actors Studio.

Her earliest screen work included providing a voice in the animated independent film Everybody Rides the Carousel in 1975, followed by a television appearance on the PBS production of The Stronger in 1976. Guest roles on Welcome Back, Kotter and in Visions followed, along with a cameo in the 1977 TV movie Raid on Entebbe. In 1978, she joined the ABC sitcom Soap as Elaine Dallas, née Lefkowitz, and that same year made her feature film debut playing Marty Maraschino, one of the Pink Ladies, in Grease. Also in 1978, she appeared in the TV series Family as Mara.

Manoff made her Broadway debut in 1980 as Libby Tucker in Neil Simon's I Ought to Be in Pictures, a role that earned her both the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and the Theatre World Award. She reprised the role in the 1982 film adaptation, which starred Walter Matthau and Ann-Margret. Also in 1980, she appeared in Ordinary People, the multiple Oscar-winning film, as Karen, the suicidal friend of Timothy Hutton's character. Manoff returned to Broadway in 1985, portraying songwriter Ellie Greenwich in the jukebox musical Leader of the Pack.

In 1988, Manoff played Maggie Peterson in Child's Play, the first character killed by the possessed doll Chucky. That same year she began a seven-year run as Carol Weston on the NBC sitcom Empty Nest, a spin-off of The Golden Girls, appearing in every episode of the series and directing two episodes before its finale in 1995. She also appeared twice on The Golden Girls reprising the Carol Weston role during this period. In 1989, she had minor roles in Bloodhounds of Broadway and Staying Together, and in 1990 she appeared in Welcome Home, Roxy Carmichael alongside Winona Ryder and Jeff Daniels.

Through the 1990s, Manoff's work extended to TV movies including Babies and Maid for Each Other, guest appearances on Blossom, Touched by an Angel, Cybill, and George and Leo, and in 1999 she directed the Sabrina the Teenage Witch episode titled "Prelude to a Kiss." In 2001, she starred in The Amati Girls, the only theatrically released film in which she and her mother appeared together, alongside Mercedes Ruehl, Sean Young, and Lily Knight. That same year she appeared in Zigs with Jason Priestley, and from 2001 to 2002 she co-starred in the cable series State of Grace. Later credits include A Carol Christmas in 2003, the documentary Happy Birthday Oscar Wilde in 2004, and the film Bart Got a Room, which premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival.

Since 1997, Manoff has been married to realtor Arthur Mortell, and the couple resides on Bainbridge Island, Washington. They have three sons: Dashiell Mortell and twins Desi and Oliver Mortell. Dashiell was killed in an automobile accident on January 7, 2017, at the age of 19.