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