Cast
S. Epatha Merkerson
Acting
Cast
S. Epatha Merkerson
Known for
Acting
Born
1952-11-28
From
Saginaw, Michigan, USA
Also known as 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.
★8.2
MOVIE1991
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
as Tarissa Dyson
★6.8
MOVIE2012
Lincoln
as Lydia Smith
★7.4
MOVIE1990
Jacob's Ladder
as Elsa
★6.8
MOVIE2006
Black Snake Moan
as Angela
★7.3
MOVIE2003
Radio
as Maggie
★6.2
MOVIE2004
Jersey Girl
as Doctor #1
★5.6
MOVIE1999
Random Hearts
as Nea
★5.9
MOVIE2025
Eye for an Eye
as May
★5.4
MOVIE1990
Navy Seals
as Jolena
★5.5
MOVIE2013
Peeples
as Daphne Peeples
★6.6
MOVIE2009
Mother and Child
as Ada
★5.0
MOVIE1990
Loose Cannons
as Rachel
★4.9
MOVIE2007
Slipstream
as Bonnie
★7.0
MOVIE1993
It's Nothing Personal
as Louise Waters
★5.9
MOVIE2005
Lackawanna Blues
as Rachel 'Nanny' Crosby
★5.3
MOVIE2009
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay
as Effa
MOVIE2020
Barbecue
as Lillie Anne
★6.6
MOVIE1986
She's Gotta Have It
as Doctor Jamison
★5.9
MOVIE1998
Exiled
as Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
★6.4
MOVIE2024
We Grown Now
as Anita
★6.1
MOVIE1994
A Place for Annie
as Alice
★7.2
MOVIE1996
After the SIlence
as Barbara
★7.4
MOVIE2014
The Gabby Douglas Story
as Miss Caroline
★7.2
MOVIE1988
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
as Reba
★8.0
MOVIE2016
Year by the Sea
as Liz
★5.9
MOVIE2015
The Challenger
as Jada
★9.0
MOVIE1990
Moe's World
★4.9
MOVIE1998
An Unexpected Life
as Beverly Hawkins
★8.6
MOVIE1995
A Mother's Prayer
as Ruby
★6.1
MOVIE2007
Girl, Positive
as Ariel Winters
MOVIE2006
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
as Berniece (segment "The Piano Lesson")
MOVIE2020
Blood Sugar Rising
as Narrator (voice)
MOVIETBA
Sexual Healing
as Alberta Gay
★6.7
MOVIE2001
The Rising Place
as Lessie Watson
MOVIE1992
Second Chances
as Ruth Clayton
MOVIETBA
After All
★8.0
MOVIE1999
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
as Eslanda Robeson (voice)
★1.5
MOVIE2014
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
as Self
★10.0
MOVIE2020
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America
as Belize
MOVIE2021
Desmond's Not Here Anymore
as Selma
★8.0
MOVIE2008
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
as Narrator (voice)
★5.0
MOVIE2016
You Can Go
as Mrs. Bryant
★6.5
MOVIE2010
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918
as Narrator (voice)