S. Epatha Merkerson

Birthday:

11/28/1952

Place of birth:

Saginaw, Michigan, USA:

Biography:

S. Epatha Merkerson (born Sharon Epatha Merkerson) is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, Obie Award, 4 NAACP Image Awards, and 2 Tony Award nominations. She is best known for her role as NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren (1993–2010) on the long-running NBC police procedural drama series Law & Order, as well as the Law & Order TV movie Exiled. She appeared in 390 episodes of the series, more than any other cast member. She has a starring role as Sharon Goodwin on NBC's Chicago Med. She also had a recurring role as Reba (the mail carrier) on Pee-wee's Playhouse, and Ms. St. Marth on the TV series Here and Now. She has appeared in feature films including She's Gotta Have It, Loose Cannons, Jacob's Ladder, Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Random Hearts, Radio, Black Snake Moan, Lincoln (2012), and Peeples. She has also appeared in TV movies including A Place for Annie, A Mother's Prayer, Breaking Through, Lackawanna Blues, and The Gabby Douglas Story.



Credits

We Grown Now (2024)
Anita
Barbecue (2020)
Lillie Anne
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America (2020)
Belize
Blood Sugar Rising (2020)
narrator
You Can Go (2016)
Mrs. Bryant
Year by the Sea (2016)
Liz
The Challenger (2015)
Jada
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee (2014)
Self
The Gabby Douglas Story (2014)
Miss Caroline
Peeples (2013)
Daphne Peeples
Lincoln (2012)
Lydia Smith
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918 (2010)
Narrator (voice)
Mother and Child (2009)
Ada
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay (2009)
Effa
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun (2008)
Narrator
Girl, Positive (2007)
Ariel Winters
Slipstream (2007)
Bonnie
Black Snake Moan (2006)
Angela
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays (2006)
Berniece (segment "The Piano Lesson")
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
Rachel "Nanny" Crosby
Jersey Girl (2004)
Doctor #1
Radio (2003)
Maggie
The Rising Place (2001)
Lessie Watson
Random Hearts (1999)
Nea
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand (1999)
Eslanda Robeson (voice)
Exiled (1998)
Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
An Unexpected Life (1998)
Beverly Hawkins
After the Silence (1996)
Barbara
A Mother's Prayer (1995)
Ruby
A Place for Annie (1994)
Alice
It's Nothing Personal (1993)
Louise Waters
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
Tarissa Dyson
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
Elsa
Navy Seals (1990)
Jolena
Moe's World (1990)
Loose Cannons (1990)
Rachel
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (1988)
Reba
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
Doctor Jamison
Desmond's Not Here Anymore ()
Selma
Somewhere in Dreamland ()
Sexual Healing ()
Alberta Gay