Dinah Manoff

Dinah Manoff Bio

Dinah Manoff (born January 25, 1956) is an American stage, film and television actress and television director. She won the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play for her work in I Ought to Be in Pictures and has maintained a varied career that includes prominent roles on stage, in feature films and on episodic television.

Early Life and Background

Dinah Manoff was born in New York City to actress, director and writer Lee Grant and screenwriter Arnold Manoff. She grew up between New York City and Malibu, California, and spent her childhood in a household connected to the performing arts and film industry.

Manoff attended the New Lincoln School and Santa Monica High School before studying at the Actors Studio, training that supported her early entry into professional voice work, television and stage performance. Her upbringing in a creative family and formal study at the Actors Studio contributed to an early and sustained engagement with acting across media.

Path to Celebrity

Manoff began professional work in the mid-1970s with a voice role in the animated independent film Everybody Rides the Carousel (1975) and early television appearances, including the PBS production The Stronger and a guest spot on Welcome Back, Kotter. These early credits established her presence on screen and led to further television and film opportunities.

She transitioned from small-screen guest roles to feature film and stage work by the late 1970s, building on stage training and screen experience to secure parts that showcased both comedic and dramatic range. Her cross-medium experience positioned her to move between stage, film and television throughout her career.

Dinah Manoff Career

Early Career (1975–1979)

Manoff’s first credited projects date to 1975, when she provided voice work for Everybody Rides the Carousel. She made her first televised stage appearance on the PBS production The Stronger in 1976 and followed with guest roles on series such as Welcome Back, Kotter and Visions.

In 1978 she made her feature film debut as Marty Maraschino, one of the Pink Ladies, in the movie Grease, and that same year she joined the ABC sitcom Soap as Elaine Lefkowitz. These appearances established her as a versatile young performer capable of both comedic and musical work.

Breakthrough (1978–1982)

Manoff’s role in Grease (1978) raised her profile on film, but her definitive early breakthrough came on Broadway in 1980 when she made her stage debut as Libby Tucker in Neil Simon’s I Ought to Be in Pictures. Her performance earned the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and the Theatre World Award in 1980, marking a major professional milestone.

She reprised Libby Tucker for the film adaptation of I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982), appearing opposite Walter Matthau and Ann‑Margret, and in 1980 she also appeared in the Oscar-winning film Ordinary People in a supporting dramatic role. These projects cemented her reputation as an actor who could move between stage and screen with critical recognition.

Notable Works and Milestones

Key credits across Manoff’s career include Grease (1978), Ordinary People (1980), the stage and film versions of I Ought to Be in Pictures (1980 stage; 1982 film) and a long-running television role on the NBC sitcom Empty Nest. On stage she portrayed figures such as songwriter Ellie Greenwich in the 1985 Broadway jukebox musical Leader of the Pack, demonstrating range in musical theatre as well as dramatic parts.

Television and Later Career (1985–present)

In 1988 Manoff appeared in the horror film Child’s Play, playing Maggie Peterson, a notable early victim in that franchise. She then began a seven-year run as Carol Weston on the NBC sitcom Empty Nest, a role she played throughout the show’s run and for which she is widely recognized on television. During her time on Empty Nest she also expanded into directing, directing two episodes of the series.

After Empty Nest concluded, Manoff continued to work primarily in television with guest appearances on programs such as The Golden Girls, Touched by an Angel, Cybill and George and Leo, and she directed television episodes including an episode of Sabrina the Teenage Witch in 1999. Her later film credits include The Amati Girls (2001) and Bart Got a Room (2009), and she has appeared in additional television and independent film projects into the 2000s and beyond.

Dinah Manoff Awards Won

Manoff’s most notable award recognitions are the Tony Award for Best Performance by a Featured Actress in a Play and the Theatre World Award, both awarded in 1980 for her Broadway debut in I Ought to Be in Pictures. Those honors acknowledge her transition from screen work into stage performance with significant critical acclaim.

Family

Dinah Manoff is the daughter of Arnold Manoff and Lee Grant. Her mother, Lee Grant, worked as an actress, director and writer, and her father, Arnold Manoff, was a screenwriter; the family background is frequently cited in accounts of her early exposure to the arts.

Personal Life

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

Manoff’s career and public activities reflect continued engagement with acting and occasional directing work, and she has participated in film festival appearances and readings that relate to both her stage and screen credits. Her professional life spans stage, film and television credits across several decades.