S. Epatha Merkerson
Acting • Born 1952-11-28
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
66 credits
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Movie • 1991
Tarissa Dyson
Jacob's Ladder
Movie • 1990
Elsa
Jersey Girl
Movie • 2004
Doctor #1
Black Snake Moan
Movie • 2006
Angela
Loose Cannons
Movie • 1990
Rachel
Random Hearts
Movie • 1999
Nea
She's Gotta Have It
Movie • 1986
Doctor Jamison
Radio
Movie • 2003
Maggie
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay
Movie • 2009
Effa
Mother and Child
Movie • 2009
Ada
Slipstream
Movie • 2007
Bonnie
Peeples
Movie • 2013
Daphne Peeples
A Place for Annie
Movie • 1994
Alice
Moe's World
Movie • 1990
Desmond's Not Here Anymore
Movie • 2021
Selma
Lackawanna Blues
Movie • 2005
Rachel 'Nanny' Crosby
We Grown Now
Movie • 2024
Anita
Girl, Positive
Movie • 2007
Ariel Winters
It's Nothing Personal
Movie • 1993
Louise Waters
The Gabby Douglas Story
Movie • 2014
Miss Caroline
Eye for an Eye
Movie • 2025
May
An Unexpected Life
Movie • 1998
Beverly Hawkins
Lincoln
Movie • 2012
Lydia Smith
A Mother's Prayer
Movie • 1995
Ruby
The Challenger
Movie • 2015
Jada
Exiled
Movie • 1998
Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
Sexual Healing
Movie
Alberta Gay
After the SIlence
Movie • 1996
Barbara
Year by the Sea
Movie • 2016
Liz
You Can Go
Movie • 2016
Mrs. Bryant
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
Movie • 2006
Berniece (segment "The Piano Lesson")
The Rising Place
Movie • 2001
Lessie Watson
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
Movie • 2008
Narrator (voice)
Blood Sugar Rising
Movie • 2020
Narrator (voice)
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918
Movie • 2010
Narrator (voice)
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
Movie • 2014
Self
Navy Seals
Movie • 1990
Jolena
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
Movie • 1988
Reba
Barbecue
Movie • 2020
Lillie Anne
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America
Movie • 2020
Belize
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
Movie • 1999
Eslanda Robeson (voice)
After All
Movie
Second Chances
Movie • 1992
Ruth Clayton
Finding Your Roots
TV • 2012
Self
The Cosby Show
TV • 1984
Elena
The Closer
TV • 2005
Dr. Rebecca Dioli
Mann & Machine
TV • 1992
Capt. Margaret Claghorn
Here and Now
TV • 1992
Claudia St. Marth
Frasier
TV • 1993
Dr. McCaskill
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
TV • 2005
Anita Van Buren
Rachael Ray
TV • 2006
Self
Law & Order
TV • 1990
Anita Van Buren
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
TV • 2001
Anita Van Buren
Today
TV • 1952
Self
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
TV • 2003
Self
The View
TV • 1997
Self
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
TV • 1988
Self - Guest
Law & Order
TV • 1990
Denise Winters
Chicago Med
TV • 2015
Sharon Goodwin
The Good Wife
TV • 2009
Judge Melanie Ellis
Chicago Fire
TV • 2012
Sharon Goodwin
Chicago P.D.
TV • 2014
Sharon Goodwin
Pee-wee's Playhouse
TV • 1986
Reba
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
TV • 2014
Self
Poker Face
TV • 2023
Joyce Carter
The Emmy Awards
TV • 1949
Self