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Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless by Gage Skidmore 2.jpg
Lawless at the 2016 San Diego Comic-Con
Born
Lucille Frances Ryan

(1968-03-29) 29 March 1968 (age 56)
Mount Albert, Auckland,
New Zealand
Occupation Actress
Years active 1989–present
Spouse(s)
Garth Lawless
(m. 1988; div. 1995)
(m. 1998)
Children 3

Lucille Frances Lawless MNZM (née Ryan; born 29 March 1968) is a New Zealand actress. She is best known for her roles as Xena in the television series Xena: Warrior Princess, as D'Anna Biers on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series, and Lucretia in the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand and associated series. Since 2019, she has starred as Alexa in the television series My Life Is Murder.

Lawless had recurring roles as Diane Lewis-Swanson on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation (2012–2014), and as Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg on the WGN America supernatural series Salem (2015). She also starred as Ruby on the Starz horror-comedy series Ash vs Evil Dead (2015–2018).

Early life

Lucille Frances "Lucy" Ryan was born in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert to teacher Julie Ryan (nee Haynes) and Mount Albert's mayor, banker Frank Ryan. She is the fifth of six siblings (four brothers and one sister). She has described her family as "this big, sprawling Irish Catholic family", and while filming in Ireland for the Discovery Channel in 2004, told Ireland on Sunday that her father's family originated in Quilty, County Clare.

Her first musical was at age 10 and began acting in secondary school. She attended Marist College, Auckland, and began studies at Auckland University in languages. At 18, she went on her "overseas experience", travelling through Europe and Australia with her future husband, Garth Lawless. At 21, she won the 1989 Mrs New Zealand competition.

Lawless has said she suffered from bulimia as a child, but she was able to overcome the illness.

Career

Lawless's television debut was in the New Zealand sketch-comedy series, Funny Business. Then she studied drama at the William Davis Centre for Actors Study in Vancouver, Canada.

In 1994, Lawless appeared in Hercules and the Amazon Women, that became the television pilot for Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. In that episode, she played a man-hating Amazon named Lysia. She went on to play another character, Lyla, in the first-season episode "As Darkness Falls".

Xena: Warrior Princess

Lucy Lawless by Gage Skidmore
Lawless at the San Diego Comic-Con International in July 2010

Lawless received her best-known role as a heroic warrior woman named Xena in the first season of Hercules. She first appeared in the episode "The Warrior Princess" which aired in March 1995. R. J. Stewart dramatised the teleplay from a story that Robert G. "Rob" Tapert commissioned John Schulian to write. The character became a fan favourite. Vanessa Angel was originally cast in the role, but she fell ill and was unable to travel to New Zealand for shooting. To differentiate between Xena and the similar Lysia, Lawless's hair, previously an ash blonde, was dyed black. She also wore a much darker costume. Lawless returned as Xena in two more episodes of the first season of Hercules, which portrayed her turn from villainess to a good, heroic character.

The character was popular enough that a spin-off series was created: Xena: Warrior Princess debuted on 4 September 1995. Xena: Warrior Princess, like its parent programme, was a huge hit and achieved high ratings and cultural significance, lasting six seasons. The series brought Lawless an immense amount of attention and she became an international celebrity.

While taping an appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in October 1996, Lawless suffered a fractured pelvis when the horse she was riding lost its footing in the studio car park. She made a complete recovery, but several episodes of the second season of Xena were rewritten to focus on background characters to minimise the time Lawless was needed on set.

Other work

Lawless first appeared on Broadway in September 1997 in the Grease revival, as the "bad girl" character Betty Rizzo. She wanted to play the lead role of Sandy and later stated her belief that the producers typecast her to play "bad girls" following her success as Xena. She said the Sandy character was very similar to her sheltered childhood, growing up in New Zealand with many protective older brothers.

From 2005 to 2009, she had a recurring role in the television series Battlestar Galactica. Lawless appeared as D'Anna Biers, a reporter with the Fleet News Service who worked on a critical documentary about the crew of the Galactica and was later revealed to be Humanoid Cylon model Number Three.

Lawless competed as one of the celebrity singers on the Fox reality TV show Celebrity Duets in 2006, finishing as the runner-up to winner Alfonso Ribeiro.

Lawless has also performed as a voice actor in several animated features: In 2008, Lawless voiced the animated character of Diana Prince/Wonder Woman in the direct-to-video superhero animated film Justice League: The New Frontier, adapted from the DC Comics limited series. In 2014, Lawless voiced the militaristic "Queen of the Ants" in the American animated television series Adventure Time on the Cartoon Network.

In 2007, Lawless was to appear as one of the leads in the ensemble cast of the ABC television series, Football Wives, based on the popular British series Footballers' Wives. The series did not continue past the pilot episode, but the network extended the options on its contracts with Lawless and the other actors slated to star in the series, including Gabrielle Union, Kiele Sanchez, Ving Rhames, and James Van Der Beek.

Lawless returned to television on 10 November 2008 in a guest-starring role on the CBS television series CSI: Miami, in a Season 7 episode, "Cheating Death".

In 2009, Lawless appeared in two episodes of the final season of The L Word as Sergeant Marybeth Duffy. She played a role in the Adam Sandler movie Bedtime Stories released December 2008. Also in 2008, Lawless appeared with her former Xena stuntwoman Zoë Bell in Sony (Crackle)'s new web series Angel of Death, written by Ed Brubaker, which debuted online in early 2009. In 2009, Lawless guest-starred in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords as Paula, assistant to the Prime Minister of New Zealand.

Lawless co-starred in the Starz original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand. The show was based on the life of Spartacus, the famous gladiator, and the slave revolt he led, and was produced by long-time Xena producers Sam Raimi and "Rob" Tapert, her own husband. Lawless won the 2011 Saturn Award as Best Supporting Actress for her role as Lucretia in Spartacus: Blood and Sand. Lawless reprised her role as Lucretia in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, which chronicled life in the Ludus before Spartacus's arrival, and she also returned for the sequel Spartacus: Vengeance.

Lawless provided the voice of Goldmoon for Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a direct-to-DVD animated movie based on the novel of the same name. From 2012 to 2014, she had a recurring role on the NBC series Parks and Recreation as Diane, the love interest and eventual wife of Ron Swanson.

In 2014, Lawless guest starred in Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. as Isabelle Hartley in the season two premiere, and reprised the role later in episode 15 of season two, "One Door Closes". In 2015, Lawless landed the recurring guest role of Countess Palatine Ingrid Von Marburg in WGN America's Salem. Countess Marburg is presented as one of the last remaining survivors of the legendary line of ancient German witches. The series ended in 2017. In March 2015, it was announced that she would be portraying the role of Ruby in Starz horror-comedy series Ash vs Evil Dead. The series ended in 2018.

Lawless is currently playing Alexa Crowe, a private investigator in My Life Is Murder. The Acorn TV series began in 2019 and reached its third season in 2022.

In 2023, Lawless co-wrote and directed Never Look Away, a film based on the life of New Zealand-born CNN camera operator Margaret Moth.

Music

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Lawless performing at the Roxy, 2007

Lawless, who has a background in musical theatre, played Betty Rizzo on Broadway in a production of Grease in 1997. She continued to sing during the run of Xena, even contributing dirge music of her own composition; this made it into the episode "The Path Not Taken" as the dirge "Burial", which she sang for the first time in the episode. Two musically-oriented episodes, "The Bitter Suite" and "Lyre, Lyre, Heart's on Fire", also showcased not only her singing but also that of some of her castmates. (See also List of Xena: Warrior Princess episodes for details.)

Lawless was encouraged to resume her singing career after being a contestant on Celebrity Duets, which she finished as runner-up to Alfonso Ribeiro. She made her solo debut at the Roxy in Hollywood, a venue of 500 seats, on 13 January 2007, with a sold-out crowd for consecutive concerts.

Charity work and activism

Lawless is a member of the board of trustees of the StarShip Foundation, the charity arm of the Starship Children's Health which is part of the Auckland District Health Board. It is set up to provide additional equipment, support and help to staff, patients and families. She helps fundraising for the organisation. She recently sat for the New Zealand television series The Sitting, an arts series where celebrity portraits are produced during an interview session, with the portraits later auctioned for charity.

Since 2006, 21 September marks "Lucy Lawless Feel the Love Day/Week". The day, organised by the Official Lucy Lawless Fan Club, begins a week of charitable acts and donations by fans in honour and support of Lawless.

In May 2009 Lawless became a "climate ambassador" for the Greenpeace "Sign On" campaign.

In February 2012, she and six other Greenpeace activists boarded an oil drilling ship at Port Taranaki, and remained on it for 77 hours to stop it leaving for the Arctic where it was going to take part in oil exploration. She was subsequently arrested and charged with burglary, which carried an imprisonment term of up to 10 years if convicted. She pleaded guilty on 14 June 2012 to trespass charges regarding the February incident. Lawless said she intended for now to remain involved with Greenpeace. In February 2013, Lawless and the other six activists were each sentenced to pay a fine of NZ$651 and undertake 120 hours of community service. The judge denied the NZ$545,000 in reparations that Shell Todd Oil Services had sought from the activists. Following the sentencing, Lawless said: "I consider it a great victory that the court has struck down the reparation demand from Shell, which I think was absolutely ludicrous."

Personal life

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Lawless with her husband Robert Tapert in 2018

In 1988, she became pregnant from her boyfriend Garth Lawless while working with him in the Australian outback. They married in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia, that year, then returned to New Zealand where their daughter was born. They divorced in 1995.

On 28 March 1998, Lawless married Xena's executive producer, Pacific Renaissance Pictures CEO Robert Tapert. They have two sons.

Astronomer Michael E. Brown nicknamed his newly discovered dwarf planet "Xena"; its then-provisional designation being 2003 UB313. When this object was initially determined to be larger than Pluto, it gained international attention and forced a year-long debate among astronomers as to the definition of a planet. (Observations made by New Horizons subsequently found Pluto to be marginally larger than the object, which was ultimately named Eris.) The object's nickname "Xena" was used in the press. New Scientist magazine polled the public on their preferred final name for the so-called tenth planet; "Xena" ranked number 4. Lawless called Brown in December 2005 to thank him for his "senseless act of beauty", and claimed that she "never dared hope [the name] would stick." Eventually, both it and Pluto were deemed not to be true planets, and were instead classified as dwarf planets. Although "Xena" is now officially known as Eris, Brown made an indirect tribute to Lawless by naming Eris's moon Dysnomia after the Greek goddess of lawlessness.

Filmography

Film

Year Title Role Notes
1990 Within the Law Verity
1990 Bitter Song, AA Bitter Song Nurse 1 Short film
1991 End of the Golden Weather, TheThe End of the Golden Weather Joe's Girl
1996 Peach Peach Short film
1997 Hercules & Xena: Wizards of the Screen Xena Short film
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 Darkroom, TheThe Darkroom Cheryl
2008 Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight Goldmoon
2008 Justice League: The New Frontier Wonder Woman Voice role
2008 Bedtime Stories Aspen
2009 ... Slap Mother Superior
2010 Lez Chat Construction Worker Short film
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 Ray Bradbury Theater, TheThe Ray Bradbury Theater Liddy Barton Episode: "Fee Fie Foe Fum"
1992-1994 Marlin Bay TV series
1993 New Adventures of the Black Stallion, TheThe New Adventures of the Black Stallion Sarah McFee Episode: "Riding the Volcano"
1993 Rainbow Warrior, TheThe Rainbow Warrior 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 role
1997 Something So Right Herself Cameo, 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 X-Files, TheThe X-Files 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 L Word, TheThe L Word 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 Race Herself Guest 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
  • 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

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

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 Result
1997 Saturn Award Best Genre TV Actress Xena: Warrior Princess Nominated
2010 Golden Nymph Outstanding Actress – Drama Series Spartacus: Blood and Sand Nominated
2010 Saturn Award Best Supporting Actress on Television Spartacus: Blood and Sand Won
2016 Fangoria Chainsaw Awards Best Supporting Actress on Television Salem Nominated

See also

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