S. Epatha Merkerson Bio

S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress best known for her award-winning portrayal of Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the NBC police procedural drama series Law & Order, a role she played from 1993 to 2010.

S. Epatha Merkerson Career

In 1978, he moved to the theater company in Albany, New York. She moved to New York City later on. Her TV debut as Reba the Mail Lady at Pee-Playhouse Wee’s was made by Merkerson. Among other series, Merkerson has also appeared on The Cosby Show. In the NBC police procedural drama Law & Order, she first appeared in “Mushrooms” as the grief-stricken mother of an 11-month-old boy who is accidentally shot.

Her performance impressed the producers enough to select Merkerson to replace Dann Florek in the fourth season of the series as detective squad chief, making her one of the few actors after an initial single appearance on the show to secure a recurring role. After taking on the leading role in the one-woman play Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill Merkerson’s career started to increase. This was followed by her performance as Berniece in The Piano Lesson, a Pulitzer Prize-winning play by August Wilson.

For that, she was nominated as Best Featured Actress in a Play for a Tony Award. In 1992, for his work in I’m not stupid, Merkerson won an Obie Award. Jacob’s Ladder, Loose Cannons, She’s Gotta Have It, James Cameron’s Terminator 2, and Navy Seals are her screen credits. In 2006, for her performance in the HBO film Lackawant to Blues, she won the Golden Globe Award, the Emmy Award, and the Screen Actors Guild award.

In 2007, she played the role made famous by Shirley Booth in the Los Angeles stage production of William Inge’s Come Back in Little Sheba. The production began on Broadway in January 2008 and won the second appointment for Tony from Merkerson. After 17 seasons, Merkerson was confirmed to leave Law & Order at the end of the 20th season, on April 1, 2010. She left Law & Order on 24 May 2010 which was also the final episode of the show.

A total of 17 consecutive seasons – 395 episodes – were presented in the series by Merkerson, which was more than any other actor associated with this program. In 2012, Merkerson hosted the TV series Find Our Missing, which depicts people lacking in color. She appeared as a housekeeper to the character, Thaddeus Stevens, of Tommy Lee Jones in the 2012 movie Lincoln, as Lydia Hamilton-Smith. The 2014 production of While I Yet Live, written by Billy Porter, featured the first production of Merkerson.

As Chief of Medical Services, Sharon Goodwin joined the cast of the NBC-medical drama Chicago Med in 2015. The series was designed and created by Dick Wolf and Matt Olmstead, Derek Haas, and Michael Brandt, the creator of law and order.

S. Epatha Merkerson Age

Merkerson is 71 years old. She was born Sharon Epatha Merkerson on November 28, 1952, in Saginaw, Michigan, United States. She celebrates her birthday on the 28th of November every year.

S. Epatha Merkerson Height

Merkerson stands at an average height of 5 feet 6 inches (1.68 m) tall.

S. Epatha Merkerson Family

Merkerson was one of the 5 mother-raised children, Merkerson grew up in the majority Euro-American neighborhood of Detroit, working for the United States Postal Service. Her parents separated When she was five.

S. Epatha Merkerson Husband

Epatha married Toussaint Louverture Jones on 20 March 1994. She was enjoying a happy married life and her husband. Unfortunately, the union of Sharon and her husband could not last. For 16 long years, they were married before their divorce. On 14 February 2006, they finally became divorced. The couple bore no children despite a long-married relationship. Furthermore, neither Toussaint nor her husband ever showed why the pair decided to take their own individual ways.

S. Epatha Merkerson Net Worth

Epatha has an estimated net worth of $11 million which she has earned through being a film, stage, and television actress.

S. Epatha Merkerson Illness/Cancer

Merkerson doesn’t have cancer but has type 2 Diabetes. Additionally, she is an advocate for people suffering from type 2 diabetes. In 2014, Merkerson also spoke at the Diabetes Challenge at Merck America, raising African Americans’ awareness of Type 2 diabetes.

S. Epatha Merkerson Movies

• 2016; Year by the Sea
• 2015; The Challenger
• 2013; Tyler Perry Presents Peeples
• 2012; Find Our Missing
• 2012; Lincoln
• 2009; The Six Wives of Henry Lefay
• 2009; Mother and Child
• 2007; Slipstream
• 2006; Black Snake Moan
• 2004; Jersey Girl
• 2003; The Zoboomafoo Movie
• 2003; Radio
• 2001; The Rising Place
• 1999; Random Hearts
• 1991; Terminator 2: Judgment Day
• 1990; Loose Cannons
• 1990; Jacob’s Ladder
• 1990; Navy Seals
• 1986; She’s Gotta Have It

The table below answers some of the frequently asked questions about Merkerson.