By Kurt Anthony Krug
Legal News
Although she was born in Saginaw, actress S. Epatha Merkerson doesn’t consider it her hometown.
“I was only born in Saginaw. I know of nothing of Saginaw. I was raised in Detroit. I’m a native of Detroit,” said Merkerson, 62, of New York City, who’ll be starring in NBC’s “Chicago Med,” debuting Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Merkerson said Detroit “was a great place to grow up.”
“I loved my youth there,” she said. “I have fond memories of Detroit. My family is still there. My sisters, my brothers, my mom — I’m the youngest of five — are still in Michigan.”
A 1970 alumna of Thomas M. Cooley High School in Detroit, Merkerson earned her BFA in theater at Wayne State University in 1975.
She has honorary degrees from Wayne State; Montclair State University in Montclair, N.J.; and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore in Princess Anne.
Merkerson said her sister attended Cass Technical High School in Detroit and Merkerson remembers “seeing her in a dance concert.”
“I thought it was the most incredible thing I’d ever seen,” Merkerson said. “Our family is very musical and it seemed like the right thing. I started out in dance, but I’ve always done theater in junior high school and high school.”
In her second year at Wayne, Merkerson took an elective acting class and she “realized I was more comfortable there. That was the genesis of it…”
The Broadway veteran made her television debut as Reba the Mail Lady on “Pee-Wee’s Playhouse” in 1986.
She also appeared in 1990’s “Navy Seals,” 1990’s “Jacob’s Ladder,” and 1991’s “Terminator 2: Judgment Day.”
In 1991, she played Denise Winters, the grief-stricken mother of an 11-month-old boy who’s accidentally shot, on NBC’s long-running “Law & Order.”
Merkerson stated she got this part while performing in “The Piano Lesson” — which earned her a Tony Award nomination — on Broadway.
According to Merkerson, “L&O” producer Joe Stern was so impressed by her work that he asked her to audition for “L&O.”
At the audition, she met “L&O” creator Dick Wolf, which was the beginning of a long, prosperous relationship. She worked with Wolf again on 1992’s short-lived series “Mann & Machine,” a critically panned mash-up of science-fiction and crime drama.
However, this led to Merkerson returning to “L&O” in 1993 as a different character and her best known one: Lt. Anita Van Buren. She replaced Capt. Don Cragen (Michigan native Dann Florek) as commander of the 27th Precinct Detective Squad.
“I had a history of working with (Wolf), and we worked well together,” she said. “When NBC told him he needed to bring women onto the show, that’s how Jill Hennessy and I became the first woman actors on (‘L&O,’ which debuted in 1990 with an all-male cast).”
She remained with “L&O” for 17 seasons until its 2010 cancellation, earning several awards and nominations, including the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.
Merkerson has the distinction of being the actor to appear in the most episodes of the “L&O” franchise, coming in at just under 400.
“I think by this point next year Ice-T (alias Det. Odafin Tutola on ‘Law & Order: Special Victims Unit’) will take over that distinction,” said Merkerson, laughing. “But right now, I hold the longest record of actors. The last time that happened was ‘Gunsmoke.’”
She added with another laugh: “I am the Miss Kitty of (‘L&O’).”
“L&O” had a revolving cast. Merkerson’s Van Buren was in charge of the homicide detectives played by numerous actors: Jerry Orbach, Chris Noth, Benjamin Bratt, Jesse L. Martin, Dennis Farina, Michael Imperioli, Anthony Andrews, Milena Govich (the first female to play one of the lead detectives), Jeremy Sisto. Merkerson didn’t have a favorite.
“L&O” has spawned several spin-offs over the years, but only “SVU” remains.
Wolf went on to create another franchise (which still occurs in the “L&O” universe).
In 2012, “Chicago Fire” debuted, followed by “Chicago P.D.” in 2013. “Chicago Med” joins them on Nov. 17 with a 13-episode season.
According to Merkerson, her long history with Wolf led to this new role. Her character — along with co-stars Oliver Platt, Nick Gehlfuss, and Yaya DaCosta’s characters — debuted last season on “Chicago Fire.”
On “Chicago Med,” Merkerson plays Sharon Goodwin, the head of Chicago Med.
It occurs in an urban hospital dealing with all the problems found in that environment: health care issues, psychiatric treatment, drugs, violence.
Her husband Bert (Carl Lumbly) is recovering from a stroke. She has to deal with him on top of her responsibilities of running a hospital.
“Chicago Med” and “L&O” may exist in the same universe, but Merkerson stated Sharon won’t meet Van Buren.
“That would be impossible without some kind of camera trick. I couldn’t see that happening. There’s no need for that,” she said.
Merkerson has no plans at the moment on reprising her role as Van Buren at this time — something fans ask her a lot.
“It remains to be seen,” she said. “Listen, it was 17 years of my life and it was an incredible experience. Who knew it’d last that long? It took me eight years to put something in my dressing room because I kept thinking, ‘This too shall pass.’ Who knew?
Merkerson said it was “a grand opportunity “to work at home, work with people I admired, do work with new writers and new directors. It was an extraordinary experience and to know that we’re part of television history is really quite a compliment. I appreciate having been a part of that.”
While best known as Van Buren, one of Merkerson’s favorite roles was Nanny in the 2005 tele-film “Lackawanna Blues,” an adaptation of the 2001 play of the same name.
Merkerson won six awards, including a Golden Globe, an Emmy Award, an NAACP Image Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
“It certainly was an opportunity that I never had before to lead a film,”?she said. “I certainly enjoyed working with (director) George C. Wolfe, whom I’d known for many years. It had wonderful people. It’s one of my fondest memories.”
“When you work a long time and your work is acknowledged in such a way,’ Merkerson said, “the appreciation for is a lot deeper because I’ve been working consistently since I decided I was moving to New York (in 1978) to make my living as an actor. To have it acknowledged at that time in my life, I deeply appreciated that acknowledgement.”
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