Anita Van Buren

Lt. Anita Van Buren is a fictional character on NBC's long running drama, Law & Order, portrayed by S. Epatha Merkerson. She is the longest-running character (by number of appearances) on the show. Medical Examiner Elizabeth Rodgers, portrayed by Leslie Hendrix, is the longest-running character based on start date, 1992 as opposed to 1993, but she appears in fewer episodes.

Character History

She joins the cast in the 1993 episode "Sweeps", replacing Capt. Don Cragen (played by Dann Florek). Throughout her run on the show, she has overseen the work of detectives such as Lennie Briscoe (Jerry Orbach), Mike Logan (Chris Noth), Rey Curtis (Benjamin Bratt), Ed Green (Jesse L. Martin), Joe Fontana (Dennis Farina), Nick Falco (Michael Imperioli), and Nina Cassady (Milena Govich). A graduate of John Jay College (as is Ron Carver from Law & Order: Criminal Intent), Van Buren is married to Donald, who owns a hardware store. They have two sons, Ric (who is diagnosed with scoliosis at the age of six in 1995) and Stefan. Unlike Cragen, Van Buren focuses on salvaging investigations when her detectives make mistakes, rather than focusing on their failures. Van Buren is known for her toughness, but she has often paid a price for it. In the 1994 episode "Competence", she shoots and wounds a would-be mugger who attacks her at an ATM, and fatally injures the mugger's partner, who turns out to be a mentally retarded teenager. She is investigated, and absolved, by the Bureau of Internal Affairs. In the 1997 episode "Burden", she nearly loses her job when she sues the NYPD for promoting a white woman with less seniority ahead of her. In the episode "Monster", the Chief of Detectives tells her she will have to resign to get her squad the resources it needs. A judge eventually dismisses her discrimination suit. Van Buren learns in the Season 12 episode "The Myth of Fingerprints" that the case that led her to being promoted to lieutenant is tainted by a dishonest fingerprint examiner's report. No action is taken against her, but it continues to haunt her. Van Buren is angered in 2006 when she was forced to accept Nina Cassady as the replacement for Det. Joe Fontana upon his retirement. Van Buren feels that Cassady is too inexperienced to be a Homicide detective and that she is a risk to her partner. Van Buren says she had a "hand-picked" replacement for Fontana who is older and much more experienced than Cassady. However, she eventually comes to tolerate (and perhaps accept) Cassady as a member of her squad. However, this acceptance did not seem to last long and in the seventeenth season finale "The Family Hour," Van Buren berates the detective for her inability to keep her temper in check and suggests that Cassady has no future at the 27th precinct. In the episode "Slave", it is revealed that her favorite poet is Langston Hughes, and that she is left-handed. In the episode "Over Here" she says her father was a Korean War veteran who spent time in an Oklahoma Army hospital. Anita Van Buren has appeared in 326 episodes of Law & Order and so is the longest running character in any of the Law & Order franchises.

Work History