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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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

## 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 
## References 
## Other websites 
* Lucy Lawless  at TV.com 
* Fan Club at Internet
* Photos  at Frodisman.com 
* Biography at Ussbrazil.com
*