Jerri Manthey's father, Cyril, was a career member of the United States Army and served several years in Germany. Jerri Manthey was born in Stuttgart, Germany and attended both high school and college in Germany.

Manthey worked as a bartender in Los Angeles while attempting to build an acting career. In 2001, she appeared on the television reality show Survivor: The Australian Outback. She was seen as a villainess on the show, in part because of her involvement with fellow contestant Kel Gleason's ouster. She was subsequently voted off the show herself.

Following her appearance on Survivor, Manthey appeared on The Young and the Restless, and the reality shows Blind Date, The Surreal Life and The Joe Schmo Show. She also posed nude in the September 2001 issue of Playboy.

Manthey returned in the 2004 series Survivor: All-Stars. She lasted longer than she had in her first appearance on the show, having played a less confrontational and directly manipulative strategy, but was again voted off. At the reunion show, she attempted to speak about the distorted image that viewers have of reality show contestants but she was booed by the studio audience and left during a commercial break.

Manthey's acting debut was in the movie That Championship Season (1999) using the name Jerri Lynn London. She also appeared in the movies The Limited (2000) and Destiny (2002). She worked as a sideline reporter on the TV series Extreme Dodgeball during its first season, but did not return for the second or third seasons.