S. Epatha Merkerson

Actor

• Born: 1953?

Contribution: S. Epatha Merkerson is an award-winning stage and television actor best known for her roles in the NBC series Law & Order (1993–2010) and the HBO film Lackawanna Blues (2005).

Background

Merkerson grew up in Detroit, Michigan, graduating from Cooley High School in 1970 and remaining in Michigan for her undergraduate education at Wayne State University, where she enrolled as a dance major but later transitioned to the theater program. She earned her bachelor’s of fine arts degree from Wayne State in 1976 before moving to New York in 1978 to pursue a career in acting. She initially took a job with a children’s theater in Albany and later moved to New York City.

Merkerson began using the name “S. Epatha” while working in stage productions in New York City because she preferred the name Epatha to her original name, Sharon. Merkerson has since legally changed her name to “S. Epatha,” and the “S.” now stands for nothing.

Career

Merkerson’s first break into network television came when she was cast on the series Pee-wee’s Playhouse, playing Reba the Mail Lady from 1986 to 1989. Merkerson also played small roles in several major films of the 1980s, including the role of Dr. Jamison in the Spike Lee film She’s Gotta Have It (1986) and Elsa in the psychological thriller Jacob’s Ladder (1990).

Merkerson also found success on the stage, winning accolades for her performances in several prominent New York theater productions. Merkerson had a starring role in a 1990 production of August Wilson’s The Piano Lesson at the Walter Kerr Theater, for which she was nominated for a Drama Desk Award and a Tony Award for best actress. She won an OBIE Award in 1992 for her performance in I’m Not Stupid at the 1991 Young Playwrights Festival.

Merkerson’s introduction to the series that would occupy more than seventeen years of her career came in 1991 when she was cast as a mother named Denise Winters in the episode “Mushrooms” of the police procedural drama Law & Order. Merkerson so impressed the show’s directors with that brief appearance that she was asked to join the show as a full-time cast member in 1993, taking on the role of Lieutenant Anita Van Buren. Merkerson remained with Law & Order for sixteen seasons, appearing in 391 episodes, making her the actor who appeared in the greatest number of episodes in the history of the series. Merkerson won the NAACP Image Award in 2006 and 2010 for her portrayal of Van Buren and was nominated for the award again in 2007 and 2008. Merkerson left the series in 2010 following the show’s twentieth season.

While she remained with Law & Order, Merkerson also devoted herself to a variety of other projects. In 2008, she played a starring role as Lola Delaney in the Broadway adaptation of Come Back, Little Sheba, which earned her a Tony Award nomination. She also starred as the nanny in the critically acclaimed HBO television movie Lackawanna Blues (2005), for which she won an Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award for best actress, as well as a SAG, Gracie Allen, and NAACP Image Awards. Merkerson won her second OBIE Award in 2006 for her role in the production of Birdie Blue at the Second Stage Theater.

Beginning in 2012, Merkerson hosted a ten-episode documentary series called Find Our Missing on TV One, which focused on the stories of missing African Americans. In interviews regarding the series, Merkerson said she felt the show was important because missing black individuals typically garner far less media attention than white individuals, even though they comprise more than one-third of the missing population. Merkerson was also codirector of the documentary film Contradictions of Fair Hope, about the Fair Hope Benevolent Society, one of the last African American benevolent societies in the United States.

In the early to mid-2010s, Merkerson took on a number of film roles, including that of Thaddeus Stevens's housekeeper, Lydia Smith, in the 2012 biopic Lincoln; Daphne Peeples in the 2013 comedy feature Peeples; Jada in the 2015 sports drama feature The Challenger; and Liz in the 2016 comedic dramedy Year by the Sea. In the latter half of the 2010s, starting in 2015, Merkerson starred in the NBC television series Chicago Med. On the show, she played hospital administrator Sharon Goodwin. Her character has also appeared on the crossover shows Chicago Fire (2015–) and Chicago P.D. (2016–). In 2024, there was some speculation that Merkerson would leave the Chicago shows in favor of reprising her role on Law & Order for that show's reboot, but she put an end to those rumors by signing on to Chicago Med for at least the 2024-25 season.

Impact

Merkerson’s seventeen seasons on Law & Order makes her character, Anita Van Buren, the longest-running African American character in television history. While Merkerson’s Van Buren was never the lead of the series, Merkerson has said in interviews that there were few African American actors on television when she was growing up in the 1950s and 1960s and that she hopes Van Buren provides a strong role model for young African American women.

Merkerson initially felt that the character Van Buren presented a stereotypical view of black women, but she came to embrace the ways that the writers and producers utilized the character to explore issues that face African American women in the workplace. She has also said that she is happy that her work on Law & Order presents a positive image of law-enforcement officers to viewers.

Personal Life

Merkerson lives in the Washington Heights neighborhood of New York City. She was previously married to Toussaint L. Jones Jr., a social worker, from 1994 to 2006.

Bibliography

Amodio, Joseph V. “FAST CHAT: S. Epatha Merkerson.” Newsday [Long Island]. Newsday, 1 Mar. 2008 Web. 23 July 2013.

Andreeva, Nellie. "‘Chicago Med’ OGs S. Epatha Merkerson, Oliver Platt & Marlyne Barrett Close New Deals To Continue On NBC Drama." Deadline, 1 July 2024, deadline.com/2024/07/chicago-med-s-epatha-merkerson-oliver-platt-marlyne-barrett-season-10-1235985947/. Accessed 16 Sept. 2024.

Dawn, Randee. “The Life Force of S. Epatha Merkerson.” Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 10 June 2010. Web. 22 July 2013.

“Longtime Actor Discusses Race on the Screen and Stage.” Tell Me More. NPR, 11 June 2008. Web. 22 July 2013.

Merkerson, S. Epatha. “Law & Order Star Inspired by Jazz, Blues.” Hosted by Michel Martin. Tell Me More. NPR, 14 May 2012. Web. 23 July 2013.

Neff, Laurie. “Merkerson Re-partners with Martin for Martin Gaye Film.” Associated Press. Times Herald [Montgomery Co., PA]. Times Herald, 12 Mar. 2013. Web. 23 July 2013.

Williams, Brennan. “S. Epatha Merkerson on Her New Series, Find Our Missing, and Making History on Law & Order.” Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 15 Feb. 2012. Web. 22 July 2013.