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.
Filmography
Eye for an Eye
2025
as May
We Grown Now
2024
as Anita
Desmond's Not Here Anymore
2021
as Selma
Barbecue
2020
as Lillie Anne
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America
2020
as Belize
Blood Sugar Rising
2020
as Narrator (voice)
You Can Go
2016
as Mrs. Bryant
Year by the Sea
2016
as Liz
The Challenger
2015
as Jada
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
2014
as Self
The Gabby Douglas Story
2014
as Miss Caroline
Peeples
2013
as Daphne Peeples
Lincoln
2012
as Lydia Smith
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918
2010
as Narrator (voice)
Mother and Child
2009
as Ada
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay
2009
as Effa
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
2008
as Narrator (voice)
Girl, Positive
2007
as Ariel Winters
Slipstream
2007
as Bonnie
Black Snake Moan
2006
as Angela
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
as Berniece (segment "The Piano Lesson")
Lackawanna Blues
2005
as Rachel 'Nanny' Crosby
Jersey Girl
2004
as Doctor #1
Radio
2003
as Maggie