[1] In the late 1970s, she spent two years in Washington, D.C., working with political activist Ralph Nader at his Center for the Study of Responsive Law.
Nearly thirty years later, she co-wrote and co-directed An Unreasonable Man, a 2006 documentary that traces the life and career of Nader, with her friend Steve Skrovan.
[2] She has worked in documentary and reality television as a writer/producer on such shows as the Emmy Award winning The Osbournes and Michael Moore's The Awful Truth.
[citation needed] Most recently, she was a consultant for HBO's The Comeback and co-authored the book Speedbumps: Flooring It Through Hollywood with Teri Garr.
Mantel was also in the very final episode of Everybody Loves Raymond as a nurse who explains a potential problem with Ray waking up from his surgery.