S. Epatha Merkerson
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.
66 acting credits · 1 directing credit
Acting · 66
Law & Order
1990
The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon
2014
Chicago Fire
2012
Chicago P.D.
2014
Law & Order: Criminal Intent
2001
The Good Wife
2009
Frasier
1993
Chicago Med
2015
The Closer
2005
The View
1997
LIVE with Kelly and Mark
1988
The Cosby Show
1984
Tony Awards
1956
The Ellen DeGeneres Show
2003
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
1991
Poker Face
2023
Finding Your Roots
2012
Law & Order: Trial by Jury
2005
Rachael Ray
2006
Pee-wee's Playhouse
1986
Today
1952
Jacob's Ladder
1990
Lincoln
2012
The Emmy Awards
1949
Radio
2003
Eye for an Eye
2025
Jersey Girl
2004
Black Snake Moan
2006
Random Hearts
1999
Here and Now
1992
Mann & Machine
1992
Navy Seals
1990
Mother and Child
2009
The Great Work Begins: Scenes from Angels in America
2020
Exiled
1998
The Best of The Tony Awards: The Plays
2006
The Six Wives of Henry Lefay
2009
She's Gotta Have It
1986
We Grown Now
2024
Lackawanna Blues
2005
Sexual Healing
—
Loose Cannons
1990
Slipstream
2007
A Place for Annie
1994
The Challenger
2015
The Gabby Douglas Story
2014
Life's Essentials with Ruby Dee
2014
Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special
1988
Peeples
2013
An Unexpected Life
1998
A Mother's Prayer
1995
After the SIlence
1996
Barbecue
2020
Moe's World
1990
Paul Robeson: Here I Stand
1999
It's Nothing Personal
1993
Year by the Sea
2016
The Rising Place
2001
After All
—
Girl, Positive
2007
Second Chances
1992
You Can Go
2016
Blood Sugar Rising
2020
Zora Neale Hurston: Jump at the Sun
2008
Desmond's Not Here Anymore
2021
We Heard the Bells: The Influenza of 1918
2010
