S. Epatha Merkerson
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.
Known For
Tarissa Dyson
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Elsa
Jacob's Ladder
Doctor #1
Jersey Girl
Angela
Black Snake Moan
Rachel
Loose Cannons
Nea
Random Hearts
Doctor Jamison
She's Gotta Have It
Maggie
Radio
Effa
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay
Ada
Mother and Child
Bonnie
Slipstream
Daphne Peeples
Peeples
Alice
A Place for Annie
Moe's World
Selma
Desmond's Not Here Anymore
Rachel 'Nanny' Crosby
Lackawanna Blues
Anita
We Grown Now
Ariel Winters
Girl, Positive
Louise Waters
It's Nothing Personal
Miss Caroline
The Gabby Douglas Story
May
Eye for an Eye
Beverly Hawkins
An Unexpected Life
Lydia Smith
Lincoln
Ruby
A Mother's Prayer
Jada
The Challenger
Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
Exiled
Alberta Gay
Sexual Healing
Barbara
Breaking Through
Liz
Year by the Sea
Mrs. Bryant
You Can Go
Berniece (segment "The Piano Lesson")
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Lessie Watson
The Rising Place
Narrator (voice)
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
Narrator (voice)
Blood Sugar Rising
Narrator (voice)
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918
Self
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Jolena
Navy Seals
Reba
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Lillie Anne
Barbecue
Belize
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America
Eslanda Robeson (voice)
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
After All
Ruth Clayton
Second Chances
Personal Info
Known For
Acting
Known Credits
43
Gender
Female
Birthday
1952-11-28
Place of Birth
Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Also Known As
Epatha Merkerson