S. Epatha Merkerson

ActorDirector Nov 28 (age 73) Saginaw, Michigan, USA 1952–2025 (73 year career)

6.5 avg rating

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 mem…

Known For

Film

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

Tarissa Dyson

Film

Chicago Med

Sharon Goodwin

Film

Lincoln

Lydia Smith

Film

Jacob's Ladder

Elsa

Film

Radio

Maggie

Film

Law & Order

Anita Van Buren

Film

Black Snake Moan

Angela

Film

Jersey Girl

Doctor #1

Filmography

Acting (69)

Movies (44)

Eye for an Eye

as May

We Grown Now

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

10.0

Blood Sugar Rising

2020

as Narrator (voice)

Year by the Sea

as Liz

You Can Go

as Mrs. Bryant

The Challenger

as Jada

The Gabby Douglas Story

2014

as Miss Caroline

7.4

Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee

as Self

Peeples

as Daphne Peeples

Lincoln

as Lydia Smith

We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918

2010

as Narrator (voice)

6.5

The Six Wives of Henry Lefay

as Effa

Mother and Child

as Ada

Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun

as Narrator (voice)

Slipstream

as Bonnie

Girl, Positive

as Ariel Winters

Black Snake Moan

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

as Doctor #1

Radio

as Maggie

The Rising Place

as Lessie Watson

Law and Order: Justice

1999

as Anita Van Buren

Random Hearts

1999

as Nea

5.6

Paul Robeson: Here I Stand

1999

as Eslanda Robeson (voice)

Exiled

1998

as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren

An Unexpected Life

as Beverly Hawkins

After the SIlence

as Barbara

A Mother's Prayer

as Ruby

A Place for Annie

as Alice

It's Nothing Personal

1993

as Louise Waters

Second Chances

1992

as Ruth Clayton

Terminator 2: Judgment Day

as Tarissa Dyson

Jacob's Ladder

as Elsa

Loose Cannons

as Rachel

Navy Seals

as Jolena

Moe's World

Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special

as Reba

She's Gotta Have It

as Doctor Jamison

After All

Sexual Healing

as Alberta Gay

Television (25)

Poker Face

as Joyce Carter

Chicago Med

as Sharon Goodwin

The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon

as Self

Chicago P.D.

as Sharon Goodwin

Chicago Fire

as Sharon Goodwin

Finding Your Roots

as Self

The Good Wife

as Judge Melanie Ellis

Rachael Ray

as Self

The Closer

as Dr. Rebecca Dioli

Law & Order: Trial by Jury

2005

as Anita Van Buren

8.1

The Ellen DeGeneres Show

2003

as Self

5.6

Law & Order: Criminal Intent

as Anita Van Buren

The View

as Self

Frasier

as Dr. McCaskill

Here and Now

as Claudia St. Marth

Mann & Machine

as Capt. Margaret Claghorn

Law & Order

as Anita Van Buren

Law & Order

as Denise Winters

LIVE with Kelly and Mark

as Self - Guest

Pee-wee's Playhouse

as Reba

The Cosby Show

as Elena

Tony Awards

as Self - Nominee

Tony Awards

as Self - Nominee

Today

as Self

The Emmy Awards

as Self

Crew (1)

Movies (1)

The Contradictions of Fair Hope

2013

Director

5.0