Lucy Lawless facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Lucy Lawless MNZM
Lawless at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
Born	Lucille Frances Ryan (1968-03-29) 29 March 1968 (age 57) Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand
Occupation	Actress singer
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Garth Lawless ​ ​ (m. 1988; div. 1995)​ Robert Tapert ​ ​ (m. 1998)​
Children	3

Lucille Frances Lawless (born March 29, 1968) is a famous actress and singer from New Zealand. She is best known for playing the hero Xena in the TV show Xena: Warrior Princess.

She also played D'Anna Biers in the science-fiction series Battlestar Galactica and Lucretia in the historical drama Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Since 2019, she has starred as the detective Alexa Crowe in the series My Life Is Murder.

Lawless has also appeared in many other popular shows. She played Diane Lewis-Swanson on the comedy Parks and Recreation and Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg on the fantasy series Salem. She also played Ruby in the horror-comedy show Ash vs Evil Dead.

Early Life and School

Lucy Lawless was born in the suburb of Mount Albert in Auckland, New Zealand. Her mother, Julie, was a teacher, and her father, Frank, was a banker and the town's mayor. She was the fifth of six children, with four brothers and one sister.

She started performing in musicals when she was 10 years old. In high school, she continued to act. After high school, she studied languages at Auckland University.

When she was 18, she traveled through Europe and Australia. At age 21, she won the Mrs. New Zealand beauty pageant in 1989.

Acting Career

Lawless began her TV career in a New Zealand comedy show called Funny Business. She later moved to Vancouver, Canada, to study acting at the William Davis Centre for Actors Study.

In 1994, she appeared in a TV movie called Hercules and the Amazon Women. This movie was the start of the popular series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In the movie, she played a character named Lysia. She later played a different character, Lyla, in the first season of the show.

Xena: Warrior Princess

Lawless at San Diego Comic-Con in July 2010

Lawless got her most famous role, Xena, in the show Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. She first appeared as Xena in an episode called "The Warrior Princess" in 1995. The character was so popular with fans that she got her own show.

To make Xena look different from her other characters, Lawless dyed her blonde hair black and wore a darker costume. At first, Xena was a villain, but she soon became a hero.

The new show, Xena: Warrior Princess, started on September 4, 1995. It was a huge success all over the world and ran for six seasons. The show made Lawless an international star.

In 1996, while getting ready for a TV appearance, Lawless was in an accident with a horse and broke her pelvis. She recovered completely. To give her time to heal, some episodes of Xena were changed to focus on other characters.

Other Famous Roles

From 2005 to 2009, Lawless had a recurring role on the science-fiction show Battlestar Galactica. She played D'Anna Biers, a reporter who was secretly a Cylon, a type of robot that looks human.

Lawless has also been a voice actor for animated movies and shows. She was the voice of Wonder Woman in the 2008 movie Justice League: The New Frontier. She also voiced the Queen of the Ants in the popular cartoon Adventure Time.

In 2009, she joined the cast of the series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The show was produced by her husband, Robert Tapert, who also worked on Xena. She played Lucretia, the wife of a man who owned a school for gladiators. For this role, she won a Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress.

From 2012 to 2014, she played Diane Lewis, a love interest for the character Ron Swanson on the comedy show Parks and Recreation. She also played the powerful witch Countess Marburg in the show Salem and the mysterious Ruby in Ash vs Evil Dead.

Since 2019, Lawless has starred in the mystery series My Life Is Murder as Alexa Crowe, a retired detective who solves crimes.

Filmmaking

In 2023, Lawless directed and co-wrote a documentary film called Never Look Away. The film is about the life of Margaret Moth, a brave camerawoman for CNN who was also from New Zealand. The movie was shown at the famous Sundance Film Festival in 2024.

Music and Singing

Lawless performing at the Roxy in 2007

Lawless has a talent for singing. In 1997, she starred on Broadway in the musical Grease as the character Betty Rizzo.

She also sang in several episodes of Xena: Warrior Princess. The show had two special musical episodes, "The Bitter Suite" and "Lyre, Lyre, Heart's on Fire," which showed off her singing voice.

After competing on the show Celebrity Duets, she started a solo music career. She has performed sold-out concerts at venues like The Roxy in Hollywood.

Supporting Good Causes

The close friendship between her character Xena and her companion Gabrielle made Lawless an icon for the LGBTQ+ community. She is proud of this role and has appeared at events like the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras to show her support for equal rights.

Lawless is also involved in charity work. She is a member of the board for the StarShip Foundation, which helps raise money for the Starship Children's Health hospital in Auckland.

She is also a "climate ambassador" for the environmental group Greenpeace. In 2012, she participated in a protest to stop a ship from drilling for oil in the Arctic. For her part in the protest, she was sentenced to 120 hours of community service. She said she was happy to help protect the environment.

Personal Life

Lawless with her husband Robert Tapert in 2018

In 1988, Lawless married Garth Lawless. They had one daughter together before divorcing in 1995.

On March 28, 1998, she married Robert Tapert, the executive producer of Xena: Warrior Princess. They have two sons.

Awards and Recognition

In 2004, Lawless was appointed a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit for her work in entertainment and her help in the community.

In 2003, astronomer Michael E. Brown discovered a new dwarf planet and nicknamed it "Xena." For a while, the public and the press called the planet Xena. It was later officially named Eris. As a tribute to Lawless, Brown named Eris's moon Dysnomia, after the Greek goddess of lawlessness.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Lucy Lawless para niños