Martin Ellyot Manulis (May 30, 1915 – September 28, 2007) was an American television, film, and theatre producer. Manulis was best known for his work in the 1950s producing the CBS Television programs Suspense, Studio One Summer Theatre, Climax!, The Best of Broadway and Playhouse 90. He was the sole producer of the award-winning drama series, Playhouse 90, during its first two seasons from 1956 to 1958.

After leaving Playhouse 90, Manulis was the "head of television" for 20th Century Fox Television where he was responsible for creating and producing the series, The Many Loves of Dobie Gillis, Adventures in Paradise, and Five Fingers. In 1962, he produced the film Days of Wine and Roses starring Jack Lemmon and Lee Remick.

Manulis was born and raised in the Park Slope neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York. His father, Abraham "Gus" Manulis, immigrated to the United States from Russia in 1897, became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 1911, and operated a drug store in Park Slope. His mother, Anna, was born in New York, the daughter of Russian immigrants. His older brother, Frederick, became a doctor and moved to Palm Beach, Florida.

Manulis attended public schools in Brooklyn and graduated from Manual Training High School in Park Slope. At age 16, Manulis enrolled at Columbia College, Columbia University, majoring in English literature with aspirations to become a journalist. While at Columbia, he became involved in a student theater production. After receiving a favorable review from Lucius Beebe, Manulis continued to perform in all-male varsity stage productions. For three years, he played leading female roles. He spent one summer while still in college performing in summer stock in Bar Harbor, Maine. In 1935, he played the lead role as a night club performer in Columbia's production of "Flair Flair, the Idol of Paree."

Manulis graduated from Columbia in 1935 and began working as an assistant for Ben Boyer, the business manager for producer Max Gordon, at a salary of $25 a week. Manulis also produced summer stock at Bass Rocks in Gloucester, Massachusetts, in partnership with Henry Levin. They invited John C. Wilson, a producer who was then affiliated with Noël Coward, to attend one of their productions. Wilson attended the performance and hired Manulis to work in his Broadway office. While employed by Wilson, Manulis directed rehearsals of understudies and reviewed scripts.

Manulis was married in 1939 to Katherine Bard, an actress and the daughter of Ralph Austin Bard, who served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy during World War II. The couple had three children. Also in 1939, he acted in a short-lived Broadway production of They Walked Alone with Elsa Lanchester. This was Manulis's last acting performance. He later joked that his character died at the end of Act II, and a critic panned his performance and suggested that the production could be improved if Manulis's character were killed instead at the end of Act I.

By 1940, Manulis was living on East 9th Street in Manhattan with his wife. He was a theater director and she was an actress. In June 1940, he was hired as a regular director at the Bass Rocks Theatre in Gloucester.

In early 1942, after the United States entered World War II, Manulis served as a lieutenant in the U.S. Navy and was stationed in London, England, censoring mail for war sensitive information. He met and became friends with Noël Coward while stationed in London during the war. After the war, Manulis became associated with the Westport Country Playhouse in Connecticut. He was the managing director at Westport for the summers from 1946 through 1950. By 1950, he had developed a reputation as the "superb manager-director" of the Westport Playhouse.