S. Epatha Merkerson
Encyclopedia
S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film
, stage
, and television
actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Obie Award
and four NAACP Image Award
s. She has also received two 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
. She appeared in 390 episodes of the series, more than any other cast member.
, Michigan
, the daughter of Ann Merkerson, who at the time was the only female in the vehicles operation unit at the Detroit Post Office. Her father worked in a factory. Merkerson's parents separated in 1957.
Merkerson is often reticent about revealing what her first name really is — Sharon. On the June 11, 2005 episode of NPR
's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
, she jokingly claimed that the initial "S," "stands for 'Sweet' [because] so many people have difficulty with Epatha, which is what I prefer to be called". She has legally changed her first name to S.
Merkerson graduated from Cooley High School
in 1970. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Degree from Wayne State University
and began her New York
theater career in 1978. She was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Wayne State University in May 2009.
. "It was one of those wild things where I went to audition. And I thought I was funny and the person I auditioned for didn't, and so I had blown the job and I guess weeks later they got new casting people," Merkerson discussed on the NPR program, Tell Me More
. "I didn't know who Pee-wee Herman was, so if, you know, for fans of the show, if they watch like the first episode that I ever did, I think it was a big party and he just kept making me laugh because I had never seen the character before. And the director was angry and he was like how can we get through this scene? And I said I have to look at the plate. So the entire [time] he's serving hors d'oeuvres, I'm looking at the plate, and we're still good buddies. He still, to this day, knows how to make me laugh like no one else. Paul Reubens
". Merkerson also has appeared on The Cosby Show
, among other series.
Her single most important television appearance may have been in the first-season Law & Order episode "Mushrooms," in which she portrayed the grief-stricken mother of an 11-month-old boy who is shot accidentally. Her performance was not only memorable to the audience during that key first season, but also impressed the producers enough to select Merkerson to replace Dann Florek
as detective squad chief in the series' fourth season.
Merkerson was nominated for a Tony Award
as Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Berniece in August Wilson
's Pulitzer Prize
-winning play, The Piano Lesson
and won an Obie Award
in 1992 for her work in I'm Not Stupid. Her screen credits include Jacob's Ladder, Loose Cannons
, She's Gotta Have It
and in James Cameron
's Terminator 2: Judgment Day
, in which she played the terrified wife of Joe Morton
. In 2006, she won Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild
awards for her performance in the television movie Lackawanna Blues
, her first starring role. In 2007, she starred on stage in Los Angeles in William Inge
's Come Back, Little Sheba
at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in the role made famous by Shirley Booth
, and in January 2008 opened on Broadway in the production. For the revival of Come Back, Little Sheba
, Merkerson earned her second Tony nomination.
In November 2007, Merkerson appeared in a TV commercial for Coricidin HBP
. Merkerson also appears in a series of commercials for Uni-Ball pens, directed by Emmy nominee Brent Roske, and in an American Express/NBC Universal ad for the Shine the Light program, in which she speaks highly of a restaurant near her home in Harlem.
On April 1, 2010, it was confirmed that after 17 seasons, Merkerson would leave Law & Order
at the end of the show's twentieth season. Her departure from Law & Order, which aired on May 24, 2010, was also the show's final episode. Although it was rumored that her character would die of the cervical cancer she was diagnosed with at the beginning of the season, this was not the case. In total, Merkerson had appeared on the series for 17 consecutive seasons, longer than any other actor associated with the program.
Merkerson is an outspoken advocate against smoking and for lung cancer research and awareness. When she guest-hosted on The View on March 2, 2007, she discussed her 23-year addiction to smoking, which ended in the early '90s after she woke up one morning unable to breathe. Until May 2007, she sat on the Board of Directors of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
She teaches acting at a NYC College.
For her role as Van Buren on Law & Order
, she wore a wig. Her real hair is made up in short locks. Merkerson decided to wear a wig for the role to look more "professional".
In December 2008, Merkerson was sued for $222,908.40 by the Gersh Agency, a talent agency which claimed that they had an oral agreement with Merkerson to represent her at a rate of 10% commission.
Nominations
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
, stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
, and television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, Screen Actors Guild Awards, Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
and four NAACP Image Award
NAACP Image Award
An NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
s. She has also received two Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
nominations. She is best known for her role as NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren
Anita Van Buren
Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. By episode count, she is the longest-running character on the show...
(1993–2010) on the long-running NBC
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices near Los Angeles and in Chicago...
police procedural
Police procedural
The police procedural is a subgenre of detective fiction which attempts to convincingly depict the activities of a police force as they investigate crimes. While traditional detective novels usually concentrate on a single crime, police procedurals frequently depict investigations into several...
drama series Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
. She appeared in 390 episodes of the series, more than any other cast member.
Early life
Merkerson, the youngest of five children, was born in SaginawSaginaw, Michigan
Saginaw is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the seat of Saginaw County. The city of Saginaw was once a thriving lumber town and manufacturing center. Saginaw and Saginaw County lie in the Flint/Tri-Cities region of Michigan...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, the daughter of Ann Merkerson, who at the time was the only female in the vehicles operation unit at the Detroit Post Office. Her father worked in a factory. Merkerson's parents separated in 1957.
Merkerson is often reticent about revealing what her first name really is — Sharon. On the June 11, 2005 episode of NPR
NPR
NPR, formerly National Public Radio, is a privately and publicly funded non-profit membership media organization that serves as a national syndicator to a network of 900 public radio stations in the United States. NPR was created in 1970, following congressional passage of the Public Broadcasting...
's Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!
Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me! is an hour-long weekly radio news panel game show produced by Chicago Public Radio and National Public Radio. It is distributed by NPR in the United States, internationally on NPR Worldwide and on the Internet via podcast, and typically broadcast on weekends by member...
, she jokingly claimed that the initial "S," "stands for 'Sweet' [because] so many people have difficulty with Epatha, which is what I prefer to be called". She has legally changed her first name to S.
Merkerson graduated from Cooley High School
Cooley High School
Thomas M. Cooley High School is located at the intersection of Hubbell Avenue and Chalfonte Street, on the northwest side of Detroit, Michigan. The three-story, Mediterranean Revival-style facility opened its doors on September 4, 1928....
in 1970. She earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts
Bachelor of Fine Arts
In the United States and Canada, the Bachelor of Fine Arts degree, usually abbreviated BFA, is the standard undergraduate degree for students seeking a professional education in the visual or performing arts. In some countries such a degree is called a Bachelor of Creative Arts or BCA...
Degree from Wayne State University
Wayne State University
Wayne State University is a public research university located in Detroit, Michigan, United States, in the city's Midtown Cultural Center Historic District. Founded in 1868, WSU consists of 13 schools and colleges offering more than 400 major subject areas to over 32,000 graduate and...
and began her New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
theater career in 1978. She was conferred an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters from Wayne State University in May 2009.
Career
Merkerson made her television debut as Reba the Mail Lady on Pee-wee's PlayhousePee-wee's Playhouse
Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more...
. "It was one of those wild things where I went to audition. And I thought I was funny and the person I auditioned for didn't, and so I had blown the job and I guess weeks later they got new casting people," Merkerson discussed on the NPR program, Tell Me More
Tell Me More
Tell Me More is a National Public Radio daytime interview show hosted by journalist Michel Martin. Tell Me More was first introduced in a novel way; it was made available online in December 2006 through an "open piloting" program called "Rough Cuts." Martin and the show's producers provided a...
. "I didn't know who Pee-wee Herman was, so if, you know, for fans of the show, if they watch like the first episode that I ever did, I think it was a big party and he just kept making me laugh because I had never seen the character before. And the director was angry and he was like how can we get through this scene? And I said I have to look at the plate. So the entire [time] he's serving hors d'oeuvres, I'm looking at the plate, and we're still good buddies. He still, to this day, knows how to make me laugh like no one else. Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens
Paul Reubens is an American actor, writer, film producer, and comedian, best known for his character Pee-wee Herman. Reubens joined the Los Angeles troupe The Groundlings in the 1970s and started his career as an improvisational comedian and stage actor...
". Merkerson also has appeared on The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show
The Cosby Show is an American television situation comedy starring Bill Cosby, which aired for eight seasons on NBC from September 20, 1984 until April 30, 1992...
, among other series.
Her single most important television appearance may have been in the first-season Law & Order episode "Mushrooms," in which she portrayed the grief-stricken mother of an 11-month-old boy who is shot accidentally. Her performance was not only memorable to the audience during that key first season, but also impressed the producers enough to select Merkerson to replace Dann Florek
Dann Florek
Ezekial Dann Florek , professional name Dann Florek, is an American actor and director.-Early life:Florek was born in Flat Rock, Michigan. He attended Eastern Michigan University, but never graduated...
as detective squad chief in the series' fourth season.
Merkerson was nominated for a Tony Award
Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
as Best Featured Actress in a Play for her performance as Berniece in August Wilson
August Wilson
August Wilson was an American playwright whose work included a series of ten plays, The Pittsburgh Cycle, for which he received two Pulitzer Prizes for Drama...
's Pulitzer Prize
Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City...
-winning play, The Piano Lesson
The Piano Lesson
The Piano Lesson is a 1990 play by American playwright August Wilson. The Piano Lesson is the fifth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir[ing] a sense of self-worth by denying ones past"...
and won an Obie Award
Obie Award
The Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
in 1992 for her work in I'm Not Stupid. Her screen credits include Jacob's Ladder, Loose Cannons
Loose Cannons
Loose Cannons is a 1990 comedy film, written by Richard Matheson, Richard Christian Matheson, and Bob Clark, who also directed the film. The film is about a hard-nosed cop who is teamed up with a detective with multiple-personality disorder to uncover a long-lost Nazi sex tape, featuring Adolf...
, She's Gotta Have It
She's Gotta Have It
She's Gotta Have It is a 1986 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It was also Lee's first feature-length film. The film stars Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell. Also appearing are cinematographer Ernest Dickerson as a Brooklyn resident and...
and in James Cameron
James Cameron
James Francis Cameron is a Canadian-American film director, film producer, screenwriter, editor, environmentalist and inventor...
's Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day
Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong...
, in which she played the terrified wife of Joe Morton
Joe Morton
Joseph Thomas "Joe" Morton, Jr. is an American stage, television, and film actor.-Early life:Morton was born in The Bronx, a borough of New York City, New York. He is the son of Evelyn, a secretary, and Joseph Thomas Morton, Sr., a U.S. army intelligence officer. Because of his father's...
. In 2006, she won Golden Globe, Emmy and Screen Actors Guild
Screen Actors Guild
The Screen Actors Guild is an American labor union representing over 200,000 film and television principal performers and background performers worldwide...
awards for her performance in the television movie Lackawanna Blues
Lackawanna Blues
Lackawanna Blues is an American play written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson in 2001. It was later adapted as a television movie that aired in 2005. The play dramatizes the character of the author's primary caregiver when he was growing up in Lackawanna, New York, during the 1950s and 1960s.-Play:The...
, her first starring role. In 2007, she starred on stage in Los Angeles in William Inge
William Inge
William Motter Inge was an American playwright and novelist, whose works typically feature solitary protagonists encumbered with strained sexual relations. In the early 1950s, he had a string of memorable Broadway productions, and one of these, Picnic, earned him a Pulitzer Prize...
's Come Back, Little Sheba
Come Back, Little Sheba (play)
Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St...
at the Kirk Douglas Theatre in the role made famous by Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth
Shirley Booth was an American actress.Primarily a theatre actress, Booth's Broadway career began in 1925. Her most significant success was as Lola Delaney, in the drama Come Back, Little Sheba, for which she received a Tony Award in 1950...
, and in January 2008 opened on Broadway in the production. For the revival of Come Back, Little Sheba
Come Back, Little Sheba (play)
Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St...
, Merkerson earned her second Tony nomination.
In November 2007, Merkerson appeared in a TV commercial for Coricidin HBP
Coricidin
Coricidin, Coricidin 'D , or CoricidinHBP , is the name of a drug marketed by Schering-Plough that contains dextromethorphan and chlorpheniramine maleate...
. Merkerson also appears in a series of commercials for Uni-Ball pens, directed by Emmy nominee Brent Roske, and in an American Express/NBC Universal ad for the Shine the Light program, in which she speaks highly of a restaurant near her home in Harlem.
On April 1, 2010, it was confirmed that after 17 seasons, Merkerson would leave Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
at the end of the show's twentieth season. Her departure from Law & Order, which aired on May 24, 2010, was also the show's final episode. Although it was rumored that her character would die of the cervical cancer she was diagnosed with at the beginning of the season, this was not the case. In total, Merkerson had appeared on the series for 17 consecutive seasons, longer than any other actor associated with the program.
Personal life
Merkerson was formerly married to Toussaint L. Jones. She lives in the Harlem section of New York City. Her brother, Barrie Merkerson, currently works as an attorney for the city of Detroit.Merkerson is an outspoken advocate against smoking and for lung cancer research and awareness. When she guest-hosted on The View on March 2, 2007, she discussed her 23-year addiction to smoking, which ended in the early '90s after she woke up one morning unable to breathe. Until May 2007, she sat on the Board of Directors of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids.
She teaches acting at a NYC College.
For her role as Van Buren on Law & Order
Law & Order
Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,...
, she wore a wig. Her real hair is made up in short locks. Merkerson decided to wear a wig for the role to look more "professional".
In December 2008, Merkerson was sued for $222,908.40 by the Gersh Agency, a talent agency which claimed that they had an oral agreement with Merkerson to represent her at a rate of 10% commission.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | She's Gotta Have It She's Gotta Have It She's Gotta Have It is a 1986 American comedy-drama film written and directed by Spike Lee. It was also Lee's first feature-length film. The film stars Tracy Camilla Johns, Tommy Redmond Hicks and John Canada Terrell. Also appearing are cinematographer Ernest Dickerson as a Brooklyn resident and... |
Doctor Jamison | |
| 1987–1989 | Pee-wee's Playhouse Pee-wee's Playhouse Pee-wee's Playhouse is an American children's television program starring Paul Reubens as the child-like Pee-wee Herman. The show was developed from Reubens' popular stage show and the one-off TV special The Pee-wee Herman Show, produced for HBO, which was similar in style but featured much more... |
Reba - Mail Woman | 43 episodes |
| 1990 | Loose Cannons Loose Cannons (film) Loose Cannons is a 2010 Italian film directed by Turkish-Italian film director Ferzan Özpetek.-Plot:The Cantones are a bourgeois family who own a pasta factory in Lecce in the conservative southern Italy. One of the two sons, Tommaso, returns from his studies in Rome and hopes to make the most of... |
Rachel | |
| Jacob's Ladder Jacob's Ladder (film) Jacob's Ladder is a 1990 American psychological thriller/horror film directed by Adrian Lyne, based on a screenplay by Bruce Joel Rubin.-Plot:Jacob Singer is a U.S. soldier deployed in the Mekong Delta during the Vietnam War... |
Elsa | ||
| Navy Seals Navy SEALs (film) Navy SEALs is a 1990 action film, directed by Lewis Teague, written by Chuck Pfarrer and Gary Goldman, and produced by Brenda Feigen and Bernard Williams with consultant William Bradley.-Plot:... |
Jolena | ||
| 1991 | Terminator 2: Judgment Day Terminator 2: Judgment Day Terminator 2: Judgment Day is a 1991 science fiction action film directed by James Cameron and written by Cameron and William Wisher Jr.. It stars Arnold Schwarzenegger, Linda Hamilton, Robert Patrick, and Edward Furlong... |
Tarissa Dyson | |
| 1991 | Law & Order Law & Order Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,... |
Denise Winters | Episode: Mushroom |
| 1992 | Mann & Machine Mann & Machine Mann & Machine is an American science fiction/police drama series that aired for nine episodes on NBC from April 5, 1992 to July 14, 1992.-Synopsis:... |
Capt. Margaret Claghorn | 9 episodes |
| 1993–2010 | Law & Order Law & Order Law & Order is an American police procedural and legal drama television series, created by Dick Wolf and part of the Law & Order franchise. It aired on NBC, and in syndication on various cable networks. Law & Order premiered on September 13, 1990, and completed its 20th and final season on May 24,... |
Anita Van Buren Anita Van Buren Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. By episode count, she is the longest-running character on the show... |
390 episodes |
| 1994 | A Place for Annie A Place for Annie A Place for Annie is a 1994 Hallmark Hall of Fame TV movie that stars Sissy Spacek, Mary-Louise Parker and Joan Plowright. Directed by John Gray, the 191st presentation aired on the ABC network on May 1, 1994.-External links:*... |
Alice | |
| 1995 | A Mother's Prayer A Mother's Prayer A Mother's Prayer is a 1995 film made for the USA Network starring Linda Hamilton, in a Golden Globe-nominated performance, as a woman who learns she has contracted the AIDS virus and must make future plans for the care of her only son. The film, which counts Kate Nelligan, S. Epatha Merkerson and... |
Ruby | |
| 1998 | Exiled Exiled: A Law & Order Movie Exiled: A Law & Order Movie is a 1998 television film that is based on the Law & Order police procedural and legal drama television series; it originally aired on NBC. Written by Charles Kipps and Chris Noth, the movie revolves around Noth's Det. Mike Logan character... |
Anita Van Buren Anita Van Buren Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running police procedural and legal drama television series Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. By episode count, she is the longest-running character on the show... |
|
| 1999 | Random Hearts Random Hearts Random Hearts is a 1984 novel by American author Warren Adler. In 1999, the novel was made into a motion picture directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Harrison Ford and Kristin Scott Thomas.-Plot summary :... |
Nea | |
| 2000 | Frasier Frasier Frasier is an American sitcom that was broadcast on NBC for eleven seasons, from September 16, 1993, to May 13, 2004. The program was created and produced by David Angell, Peter Casey, and David Lee in association with Grammnet and Paramount Network Television.A spin-off of Cheers, Frasier stars... |
Dr. McCaskill | 1 episode |
| 2001 | The Rising Place | Lessie Watson | |
| A Girl Thing | Lani | ||
| Art 21 | Herself | episode "Spirituality" | |
| 2003 | Radio | Maggie | |
| 2005 | Lackawanna Blues Lackawanna Blues Lackawanna Blues is an American play written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson in 2001. It was later adapted as a television movie that aired in 2005. The play dramatizes the character of the author's primary caregiver when he was growing up in Lackawanna, New York, during the 1950s and 1960s.-Play:The... |
Rachel "Nanny" Crosby | |
| 2006 | Black Snake Moan | Angela | |
| 2007 | Girl, Positive Girl, Positive Girl, Positive is a 2007 Lifetime Television movie, starring Andrea Bowen and Jennie Garth.-Plot summary:Rachel , a high school girl, seems to have the life that most people envy: she has a steady boyfriend, some great friends, and a place on the school's soccer team... |
Ariel Winters | |
| Slipstream Slipstream (2007 film) Slipstream is a 2007 American science fiction film starring, written, scored, and directed by Anthony Hopkins, which explores the premise of a screen writer who is caught in a slipstream of time, memories, fantasy and reality. The film premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival... |
Bonnie | ||
| The Closer The Closer The Closer is an American crime drama, starring Kyra Sedgwick as Deputy Chief Brenda Leigh Johnson, a Georgia police detective who often closes her cases using sometimes-questionable methods... |
Dr. Rebecca Dioli | 3 episodes | |
| 2009 | The Six Wives of Henry Lefay The Six Wives of Henry LeFay The Six Wives of Henry Lefay is a 2009 American comedy film starring Elisha Cuthbert and Tim Allen. A grieving daughter tries to arrange her father's funeral, while putting up with all of his ex-wives... |
Effa | |
| Mother and Child Mother and Child (film) Mother and Child is an American drama film directed and written by Rodrigo García, and stars Naomi Watts, Annette Bening, Kerry Washington, Shareeka Epps and Samuel L. Jackson. It premiered on September 14, 2009 at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival and at the Sundance Film Festival on... |
Ada | ||
| 2011 | We the Peeples | Daphne Peeples | post-production |
Awards and nominations
Awards- 1992 Obie AwardObie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
Outstanding Performance (I'm Not Stupid) - 1999 Helen Hayes AwardHelen Hayes AwardA Helen Hayes Award is a theater award named for the famed actress Helen Hayes to recognize excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are managed by Linda Levy Grossman. and presented by the Washington Theatre Awards Society.-Awards:The Helen Hayes...
Outstanding Lead Actress-Resident Play (The Old SettlerThe Old SettlerThe Old Settler, 2132 m prominence: 1222 m, is the highest mountain in the southernmost part of the Lillooet Ranges of the Coast Mountains in British Columbia, Canada, located between the Fraser Canyon and Harrison Lake to the northeast of the town of Agassiz between Bear and Cogburn...
) - 2002 Regulus Award For her dedication to lung cancer awareness and education
- 2005 Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie (Lackawanna BluesLackawanna BluesLackawanna Blues is an American play written by Ruben Santiago-Hudson in 2001. It was later adapted as a television movie that aired in 2005. The play dramatizes the character of the author's primary caregiver when he was growing up in Lackawanna, New York, during the 1950s and 1960s.-Play:The...
) - 2006 SunDeis Film Festival at Brandeis University Entertainer of the Year Award
- 2006 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Television Movie or Miniseries (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2006 PRISM Award Performance in a TV-Movie or Miniseries (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2006 Obie AwardObie AwardThe Obie Awards or Off-Broadway Theater Awards are annual awards given by The Village Voice newspaper to theatre artists and groups in New York City...
Outstanding Performance (Birdie Blue) - 2006 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order) - 2006 NAACP Image Award Best Actress in a Made for TV Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2006 Gracie Allen Award Outstanding Female Lead – Miniseries (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2006 Golden Globe AwardGolden Globe AwardThe Golden Globe Award is an accolade bestowed by the 93 members of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association recognizing excellence in film and television, both domestic and foreign...
Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Lackawanna Blues) - 2006 Black Reel Award Best Actress in a Made for TV Movie or Miniseries (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2010 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order)
Nominations
- 1990 Helen Hayes AwardHelen Hayes AwardA Helen Hayes Award is a theater award named for the famed actress Helen Hayes to recognize excellence in professional theater in the Washington, D.C. area since 1983. The awards are managed by Linda Levy Grossman. and presented by the Washington Theatre Awards Society.-Awards:The Helen Hayes...
Best Actress, Non-Resident Play (The Piano LessonThe Piano LessonThe Piano Lesson is a 1990 play by American playwright August Wilson. The Piano Lesson is the fifth play in Wilson's The Pittsburgh Cycle. Wilson began writing this play by playing with the various answers regarding the possibility of "acquir[ing] a sense of self-worth by denying ones past"...
) - 1990 Drama Desk AwardDrama Desk AwardThe Drama Desk Awards, which are given annually in a number of categories, are the only major New York theater honors for which productions on Broadway, Off-Broadway, Off-Off-Broadway compete against each other in the same category...
Best Actress, Lead Role-Play (The Piano Lesson) - 1990 Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
Best Actress, Featured Role-Play (The Piano Lesson) - 1997 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order) - 1998 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order) - 1999 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order) - 2001 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order) - 2003 Lucille Lortel Award Outstanding Lead Actress (Fucking AFucking aFucking A is a play written by American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. It was produced by DiverseWorks for Infernal Bridegroom Productions, and premiered at the DiverseWorks Artspace in Houston, Texas on February 24, 2000.-Background:...
) - 2003 Drama League AwardDrama League AwardThe Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
Distinguished Performance (Fucking A) - 2005 Satellite Award Outstanding Actress in a Miniseries or a Motion Picture Made for Television (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2006 Vision Award Best Dramatic Performance (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2006 Lucille Lortel Award Best Actress (Birdie Blue)
- 2006 Independent Spirit Award Best Female Lead (Lackawanna Blues)
- 2006 Drama League AwardDrama League AwardThe Drama League Awards, created in 1935, honor distinguished productions and performances both on Broadway and Off-Broadway, in addition to recognizing exemplary career achievements in theatre, musical theatre, and directing...
Distinguished Performance (Birdie Blue) - 2007 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order) - 2008 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Best Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (Law & Order) - 2008 NAACP Image AwardNAACP Image AwardAn NAACP Image Award is an accolade presented by the American National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in film, television, music, and literature....
Best Actress in a Made for TV Movie, Miniseries or Dramatic Special (Girl, PositiveGirl, PositiveGirl, Positive is a 2007 Lifetime Television movie, starring Andrea Bowen and Jennie Garth.-Plot summary:Rachel , a high school girl, seems to have the life that most people envy: she has a steady boyfriend, some great friends, and a place on the school's soccer team...
) - 2008 Tony AwardTony AwardThe Antoinette Perry Award for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as a Tony Award, recognizes achievement in live Broadway theatre. The awards are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are given for Broadway...
Best Performance by a Leading Actress in a Play (Come Back, Little ShebaCome Back, Little Sheba (play)Come Back, Little Sheba is a 1950 play by the American dramatist William Inge. The play was Inge's first, written while he was a teacher at Washington University in St...
) - 2008 NAACP Theatre AwardNAACP Theatre AwardsThe NAACP Theatre Awards is an award presented annually by the Beverly Hills-Hollywood branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People to honor outstanding people of color in theatre....
Best Lead Female – Equity (Come Back, Little Sheba)