S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson : Role - Lt. Anita Van Buren
Birthday : 28 November 1952
Birth Place : Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.A.
Birth Name : Sharon Epatha Merkerson
Height : 5′6″
Gender : Female
Recent Role : Lt. Anita Van Buren on Law and Order
S. Epatha Merkerson was born on 28 November 1952 in Saginaw, Michigan, U.S.A. She is the daughter of Ann Merkerson, and her father worked in a factory. Her parents separated when she was a kid, in 1957. She has studied from the Cooley High School and earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Fine Arts from the Wayne State University. After this, she started her career in acting and joined the New York theatre in 1978.
She was the wife of Toussaint L. Jones, but they have now separated. She has voiced against smoking, and for the awareness of lung cancer. She was one of the Board of Directors of the Campaign for Tobacco - Free Kids.
She appeared for the first time on the television in ‘Pee-wee’s Playhouse‘. She has since appeared in ‘The Cosby Show’, ‘Law and Order‘, ‘Jacob’s Ladder’, ‘Loose Cannons’, ‘She’s Gotta Have It‘, ‘Terminator 2: Judgment Day’ and in a television movie ‘Lackawanna Blues’. She has also performed on stage for ‘Come Back, Little Sheba’. She appeared in a series of commercials for uni-ball pens and identity theft. She also appeared on television in a commercial for Coricidin HBP.
She is the winner of Golden Globe Award -2006 for the Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television for ‘Lackawanna Blues’. She has also won an Emmy Award in 2005 for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie for ‘Lackawanna Blues’. She won the Screen Actors Guild Awards in 2006 for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries for ‘Lackawanna Blues’, and was nominated for it in 1995-2002 and 2004, in the category of Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Drama Series for ‘Law and Order’. In addition to this, she also was a nominee in numerous other awards in vivid categories and she won many of them.
Role in Law and Order
S. Epatha Merkerson is playing “Lt. Anita Van Buren” in ‘Law and Order’ tv show. She was a cop for five years and after that, she spent seven years in undercover narcotics. She is the wife of Donald and they have two sons, Ric and Stefan. She is a tough woman, and believes in salvaging the investigations rather then focusing on the mistakes done by her detectives. She is haunted by the thought that her promotion to the post of lieutenant was due to a case, which was tainted by a dishonest fingerprint’s examiner report.
