[4] Her half-brother, Tom Manoff, is the classical music critic for NPR's All Things Considered and a notable composer.
In 1978, Manoff got the role of Elaine Dallas (née Lefkowitz) on the ABC sitcom Soap, and remained on the show until the end of the year.
[5] Also in 1980, Manoff appeared as Karen, the suicidal friend of Timothy Hutton's character, in the multiple Oscar-winning Ordinary People.
Manoff then started a seven-year stint as Carol Weston on the NBC sitcom Empty Nest, which was a spin off of The Golden Girls, a role for which she is best known on television, and appeared in every episode of the series.
After this, Manoff focused primarily on television work, appearing in a cameo role in an episode of Blossom entitled "Rockumentary" and TV movies such as Babies and Maid for Each Other, as well as continuing on Empty Nest as actress and director on two episodes until its finale in 1995; she also appeared on The Golden Girls twice as Carol Weston during this period.
In 1999, Manoff directed the 82nd episode of the television series Sabrina the Teenage Witch, titled "Prelude to a Kiss."
Just a few months later in 2001, Manoff returned to film work by starring in The Amati Girls, the sole movie released theatrically in which her mother and she have appeared together.
In 2003, Manoff played Aunt Marla in A Carol Christmas, a variation on Charles Dickens' classic story.