FrameThrower · Actors · S. Epatha Merkerson
S. Epatha Merkerson
4 films · 542 frames · top-billed in 1 · 1991–2025
Born 28 November 1952 · Saginaw, Michigan, USA
S. Epatha Merkerson is an American film, stage, and television actress. She has won a Golden Globe, Emmy Awards, a Screen Actors Guild Award, Obie Award, 4 NAACP Image Awards, and 2 Tony Award nominations.
She is best known for her role as NYPD Lieutenant Anita Van Buren (1993–2010) on the long-running NBC police procedural drama series Law & Order, as well as the Law & Order TV movie Exiled. She appeared in 390 episodes of the series, more than any other cast member.
She has a starring role as Sharon Goodwin on NBC's Chicago Med. She also had a recurring role as Reba (the mail carrier) on Pee-wee's Playhouse, and Ms. St.…
Awards
On FrameThrower we have: 4 films · 542 frames · top-billed in 1 · 1991–2025
- Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie2005
How their films are shot
Measured across 542 frames from the 4 films we hold. This is the look of the work S. takes, not a claim about any single frame — we index the cast of a film, never the people in a shot.
Across the 4 films we hold, 50% of their frames are day, 49% natural — the look of the work S. takes.
Time of day
Lighting
Shot size
Camera angle
Mood
Films in the library
Every poster opens that film — stills, cinematography notes and colour palette.
A reference database for filmmakers
FrameThrower is a fully machine-searchable film database and visual reference library — all 542 frames from S. Epatha Merkerson's 4 films, and 5,000+ films besides, indexed frame by frame and readable by AI. Search it in plain language, from a reference image, or by colour; call it from an API, an MCP server or an SDK. It's the reference layer for making the next movie.