birth_place name birth_date spouse yearsactive article_title birth_name occupation
saginaw , michigan , united states s. epatha merkerson 28 november 1952 toussaint ; divorced -rrb- louverture jones , jr. -lrb- 1994 -- 2006 1986 -- present s. epatha merkerson
 sharon epatha merkerson actress
s. epatha merkerson

sharon epatha merkerson -lrb- ; born november 28 , 1952 -rrb- , best known as s. epatha merkerson , is an american film , stage , and television actress .
she has won a golden globe , an emmy award , a screen actors guild award , an obie award and four naacp image awards .
she has also received two tony award nominations .
she is best known for her role as nypd lieutenant anita van buren from 1993 to 2010 on the long-running nbc police procedural drama series `` law & order '' .
she appeared in 391 episodes of the series -- more than any other cast member .
in 2012 , merkerson became the host of `` find our missing '' , a reality-reenactment series on tv one which profiles missing people of color .
in 2015 , she was cast as the head of the hospital on nbc 's chicago med .
