14
LA STAGE
S. EPATHA MERKE
RSON:
Bringing Back Little She
ba
By Deborah Behre
ns
Epatha Merkerson is grateful to have a day job that
supports her theatre habit.
The fact that its tenure recently made her the
longest running African American character in televi-
sion history is a perk she never anticipated. But then neither
was becoming a potential Jeopardy! answer.
“I’m now a trivia question!” declares the down-to-earth,
critically lauded theatre, television and film actress best known
for playing Lt. Anita Van Buren on the crime drama juggernaut
Law & Order. “I love the opportunities the show has afforded me,
especially being able to stay in New York and do theatre.”
Her 14-year stint on the series makes Merkerson both its
senior cast member and de facto den mother to the streaming
multitude of actors who annually pass through the various L&O
franchise turnstiles-–a phenomenon that led creator Dick Wolf at
last summer’s TV critics press tour in Pasadena to quip:
“If you go to the theatre and somebody does not have a
Law & Order credit, they either just got off the bus or they’re
really bad.”
Merkerson bursts out laughing when told about Wolf’s
remark. “That’s not true! When you go to the theatre, it’s really
rare if someone in the cast hasn’t been on Law & Order. But I do
know a couple of people who are decent who haven’t been on!”
If Helen Mirren was this year’s award diva, then Merkerson
paved the way in 2006 by winning Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG,
NAACP Image and Gracie Allen Awards for her role as Rachel
“Nanny” Crosby in the HBO film Lackawanna Blues. At each
successive ceremony, she famously lost her acceptance speech
down her dress, shared her hot flashes onstage and thanked
her divorce attorney.
“It was extraordinary,” she confesses. “All that and a divorce,
too! It was a wild year. As sweet and as bitter as it could get. You
know what I mean? Which made it even more interesting.
“You do this so long you never think of that coming your way.
And the lovely response from co-workers and peers. I will always
re