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