S. Epatha Merkerson
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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
Credits
Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
as Tarissa Dyson
Lincoln (2012)
as Lydia Smith
Jacob's Ladder (1990)
as Elsa
Radio (2003)
as Maggie
Black Snake Moan (2006)
as Angela
Jersey Girl (2004)
as Doctor #1
Eye for an Eye (2025)
as May
Random Hearts (1999)
as Nea
Navy Seals (1990)
as Jolena
Mother and Child (2009)
as Ada
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special (1988)
as Reba
Loose Cannons (1990)
as Rachel
We Grown Now (2024)
as Anita
She's Gotta Have It (1986)
as Doctor Jamison
Slipstream (2007)
as Bonnie
Exiled (1998)
as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
The Challenger (2015)
as Jada
Peeples (2013)
as Daphne Peeples
Lackawanna Blues (2005)
as Rachel 'Nanny' Crosby
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays (2006)
as Berniece (segment "The Piano Lesson")
A Place for Annie (1994)
as Alice
After the SIlence (1996)
as Barbara
It's Nothing Personal (1993)
as Louise Waters
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay (2009)
as Effa
Barbecue (2020)
as Lillie Anne
The Gabby Douglas Story (2014)
as Miss Caroline
Year by the Sea (2016)
as Liz
An Unexpected Life (1998)
as Beverly Hawkins
Moe's World (1990)
Actor
Sexual Healing (—)
as Alberta Gay
A Mother's Prayer (1995)
as Ruby
Girl, Positive (2007)
as Ariel Winters
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America (2020)
as Belize
After All (—)
Actor
The Rising Place (2001)
as Lessie Watson
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee (2014)
as Self
You Can Go (2016)
as Mrs. Bryant
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand (1999)
as Eslanda Robeson (voice)
Blood Sugar Rising (2020)
as Narrator (voice)
Second Chances (1992)
as Ruth Clayton
Desmond's Not Here Anymore (2021)
as Selma
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918 (2010)
as Narrator (voice)
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun (2008)
as Narrator (voice)