Camryn Manheim, who plays a full-figured lawyer on "The Practice," has a case against the demand for super-thin actresses. It nearly killed her.
Manheim was told to lose weight or be kicked out of a graduate theater studies program at New York University.She took amphetamines for a year, losing 100 pounds but becoming addicted. She nearly died of an overdose after graduation. "In losing weight, I had lost myself," said Manheim, 36. "It took me years to learn to believe I was worthwhile - that I had a place on this planet - even though I wasn't skinny.
"Now my focus is on feeling healthy," not through dieting but by healthy eating and exercise, she says.