Lucy Lawless

Lucille Frances Ryan (born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress. When she was twenty years old, she got her first acting job in the TV program Funny Business. In 1994, she started in a small role on Hercules, where she became involved her current husband.  In 1995, she starred in her first television series, Xena: Warrior Princess, becoming in an international star in this role. In 1995, she divorced her first husband with whom she had been with since she was 18.  

Lawless is also known for her role as D'anna Biers in the TV series Battlestar Galactica between 2005 and 2008. During a break in 1997 between filming seasons on Xena, Lawless made her onstage debut singing songs on Broadway as Rizzo in the remake of the musical play Grease.

Since her role as Xena, Lawless has pursued a new career in singing after being a contestant on Celebrity Duets. She sang at the Roxy in Hollywood in 2007, and has since performed regularly in concerts and released several CDs. She has a contralto singing range.

 Early life 
She was born in Auckland on 29 March 1968. Lawless' mother, Julie, was teacher, and her father, Frank, was mayor. She has 6 brothers. She had bulimia and Depression.

Lawless began acting in secondary school, attending Marist College, New Zealand, in Mount Albert. She studied foreign languages at Auckland University for a year before dropping out and leaving for Europe with her boyfriend, Garth Lawless, to travel to Germany and Switzerland. The couple then moved to Australia, where she worked briefly as a gold miner.

 Career 
Lawless wanted to act since she was five. She took her first acting class at the school. Lawless starred various national television commercials when she was a child. One of these was for McDonald's. She played an Amazon in the TV movie Hercules and the Amazon Women, in 1994, and Lisya in his Spin-off, the TV series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys em 1995. In the same year, she plays Xena in three episodes, returning later.

In September, Xena won her own series, Xena: Warrior Princess, Lawless was the star in the program during 6 years. Lawless first appeared on Broadway in September 1997 in the Grease play remake, as the "bad girl" Rizzo character. She applied to play the squeaky-clean naive blond girl Sandra Dee, but she claimed the producers after Xena had typed her to playing only "bad girls." She said the Sandy character was very similar to her sheltered childhood, growing up in New Zealand with many protective older brothers.

Lawless has since appeared onstage in the Vagina Monologues and as a television guest star in episodes of The Simpsons, The X-Files, Just Shoot Me!, Veronica Mars, Burn Notice, and Curb Your Enthusiasm. She was also featured in the short-lived television series Tarzan. Lawless has made cameo appearances in the movies EuroTrip, Spider-Man and Boogeyman. She returned to television in the TV movie Locusts! and its sequel Vampire Bats.

From 2005 to 2008, Lawless has had a recurring role in the television series Battlestar Galactica. She portrays D'Anna Biers, a reporter with the Fleet News Service who works on a critical documentary about the crew of the Galactica and is later revealed to be a Cylon.

 Public image 
In 1997, Lawless was named one of the "50 Most Beautiful People in the World" by People magazine.People names the 50 Most Beautiful People in the World Days earlier on 6 May 1997, Lawless inadvertently exposed a breast as she concluded a performance of the US national anthem at an NHL hockey game in Anaheim, California between the Mighty Ducks and Detroit Red Wings. Lawless was quoted in Newsweek as saying:

Lawless has enjoyed a particular cult status in the lesbian community. Some of the lesbian fan base sees Lawless as a lesbian icon. A group called The Marching Xenas has participated in many gay and lesbian pride parades.

Some fans felt that the sexual nature of Xena and the character Gabrielle's relationship was cemented by an interview given by Lucy Lawless to Lesbian News magazine in 2003.  Lawless stated that after the series finale, where Gabrielle revives Xena with a mouth-to-mouth water transfer filmed to look like a full kiss, she had come to believe that Xena and Gabrielle's relationship was "definitely gay... there was always a 'well, she might be or she might not be' but when there was that drip of water passing between their lips in the very final scene, that cemented it for me".

 Costume donation 
In 2006, Lucy Lawless donated her personal Xena costume to the Museum of American History.Page 44: "Lucy Lawless, star of Xena: Warrior Princess, which aired from 1995–2001, has given her signature costume to the Museum of American History." In an interview the same year with Smithsonian magazine, she was asked the question "Was the Warrior Princess outfit comfortable?" and she responded:

 Personal life 
At the age of nineteen, Lawless became pregnant with Garth's child. In 1988, they married in Kalgoorlie, Australia. They returned to New Zealand and had a daughter, Daisy Lawless (born 15 July 1988), who also attended Marist College, New Zealand. The couple divorced in 1995. Lawless married Xena executive producer Robert Tapert on 28 March 1998. Lawless and Tapert have two sons: Julius Robert Bay Tapert (born 16 October 1999) and Judah Miro Tapert (born 7 May 2002), both born in Auckland.

 Filmography 

 Movies 
 Year Title Role Notes 1990 Within the Law Verity 1990  Nurse 1 Short movie 1991  Joe's Girl 1996 Peach Peach Short movie 1997 Hercules & Xena: Wizards of the Screen Xena Short movie 1998 Hercules and Xena – The Animated Movie Xena Voice role 2000 Ginger Snaps Announcer on School's PA System Uncredited 2002 Spider-Man Punk Rock Girl Cameo 2004 EuroTrip Madame Vandersexxx 2005 Boogeyman Mary Jensen 2006  Cheryl 2008 Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight Goldmoon 2008 Justice League: The New Frontier Wonder Woman Voice role 2008 Bedtime Stories Aspen 2009 Bitch Slap Mother Superior 2010 Lez Chat Construction Worker Short movie 2018 The Breaker Upperers Client 2019 Mosley Bera Voice role 2021 The Spine of Night Tzod Voice role 2022 Minions: The Rise of Gru Nun-chuck Voice role

 Television 
 Year Title Role Notes 1989 Funny Business Various Unknown episodes 1990 Shark in the Park Kim Hughes Episode: "Double or Quits" 1991 For the Love of Mike Helen Episode: "1.6" 1992  Liddy Barton Episode: "Fee Fie Foe Fum" 1992-1994 Marlin Bay TV series 1993  Sarah McFee Episode: "Riding the Volcano" 1993  Jane Redmond Television movie 1993 Typhon's People Mink Tertius Television movie 1994 High Tide Undercover policewoman Episode: "Shanghied" 1994 Hercules and the Amazon Women Lysia Television movie 1995 High Tide Sharon List Episode: "Dead in the Water" 1995 Hercules: The Legendary Journeys Lyla 2 episodes 1995–1998 Xena Recurring role, 6 episodes 1995–2001 Xena: Warrior Princess Lead role1997Something So RightHerselfCameo, Season 1 EP 23 1998 Saturday Night Live Herself/host/Various Episode: "Lucy Lawless/Elliott Smith" 1999 The Simpsons Herself/Xena (voice) Episode: "Treehouse of Horror X" 2000 Celebrity Deathmatch Herself (voice) Episode: "The Return of Lucy Lawless" 2001 Just Shoot Me! Stacy Episode: "The Auction" 2001  Shannon McMahon 2 episodes 2003 Tarzan Kathleen Clayton Recurring role, 7 episodes 2003 Warrior Women with Lucy Lawless Herself 5 episodes 2004 Less than Perfect Tracy Fletcher Episode: "Ignoring Lydia" 2005 Two and a Half Men Pamela Episode: "It Was 'Mame', Mom" 2005 Locusts Maddy Rierdon Television movie 2005 Vampire Bats Maddy Rierdon Television movie 2005–2009 Battlestar Galactica D'Anna Biers Recurring role, 16 episodes 2006 Veronica Mars Agent Morris Episode: "Donut Run" 2007 Burn Notice Evelyn Episode: "False Flag" 2007 Curb Your Enthusiasm Herself Episode: "The TiVo Guy" 2007 Football Wives Tanya Austin Unsold TV pilot 2008 CSI: Miami Audrey Yates Episode: "Cheating Death" 2009  Sgt. Marybeth Duffy 2 episodes 2009 Flight of the Conchords Paula Episode: "New Zealand Town" 2009 Angel of Death Vera Episode: "Help"2009; 2022 RuPaul's Drag RaceHerselfGuest Judge RuPaul's Drag Race Down Under 2010 Spartacus: Blood and Sand Lucretia Main role, 13 episodes 2011 Spartacus: Gods of the Arena Main role, 6 episodes 2011 American Dad! Stacy (voice) Episode: "A Piñata Named Desire" 2011 No Ordinary Family Helen Burton 4 episodes 2012 Spartacus: Vengeance Lucretia Main role, 10 episodes 2012–2014 Parks and Recreation Diane Lewis Recurring role, 10 episodes 2013 Top of the Lake Caroline Platt 2 episodes 2014–2015 Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Isabelle Hartley 2 episodes 2014 The Code Alex Wisham Recurring role (season 1), 6 episodes 2014 Adventure Time General Tarsal (voice) Episode: "Dentist" 2015–2017 Salem Countess Marburg Recurring role, 15 episodes 2015–2018 Ash vs. Evil Dead Ruby Knowby Main role, 27 episodes  2016 Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Hiidrala (voice) Episode: "The Cosmic Ocean" 2017 The Changeover Miryam Carlisle Television movie (Sci Fi New Zealand) 2019–present My Life Is Murder Alexa Crowe Main role 2020 Star Wars Resistance Aeosian Queen (voice) 2 episodes 2020 Big City Greens Mimi O'Malley (voice) Episode: "Cricket's Tickets" 2021 Mr. Corman Cheryl Episode: "Funeral"

 Video games 

 Hunted: The Demon's Forge (2011), as Seraphine
 Evil Dead: The Game (2023), as Ruby Knowby

 Stage 
1997: Grease! – On Broadway, NY USA
2002: The Vagina Monologues – Auckland, NZ
2005: Gentlemen Prefer Blondes – Seattle, USA
2011: BARE For Christchurch – Auckland, NZ
2013: Chicago The Musical – Hollywood Bowl, LA, USA
2013: Chicago The Musical – Auckland, NZ
2014–2015: Sleeping Beauty and Her Winter Knight – Pasadena, CA, USA
2017: Pleasuredome The Musical – Auckland, NZ

 Discography 
 Albums
Come 2 Me
Come to Mama: Lucy Lawless in Concert: The Roxy Theater in Hollywood

Concert DVDs
Come to Mama: Lucy Lawless in Concert: The Roxy Theater in Hollywood
Gimme Some, Sugar: Lawless, NYC
Lucy Lawless Live in Chicago: Still Got The Blues
Lucy Lawless Live at The Roxy Theater: Ho Down
Lucy Lawless Live in Concert: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

Other songs
"Little Child" on Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars
"4 All of Us" with Pauly Fuemana (OMC)
"Little Child" on The Starship Christmas Album 2012 – Starship Foundation

 Honours 
In the 2004 Queen's Birthday Honours, Lawless was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit, for services to entertainment and the community.

 Awards and nominations 

+ Year Award Category Production Result1997Saturn AwardBest Genre TV ActressXena: Warrior Princess2010Golden NymphOutstanding Actress – Drama SeriesSpartacus: Blood and Sand2010Saturn AwardBest Supporting Actress on TelevisionSpartacus: Blood and Sand2016Fangoria Chainsaw AwardsBest Supporting Actress on TelevisionSalem

 References 

 Other websites 

 Lucy Lawless  at TV.com 
 Fan Club at Internet
 Photos  at Frodisman.com 
 Biography at Ussbrazil.com


Category:1968 births
Category:Living people
Category:Contraltos
Category:Entertainers from North Island
Category:New Zealand movie actors
Category:New Zealand television actors
Category:People from Auckland
Category:University of Auckland alumni