:Lucy Lawless

Lawless was born{{cite news |title=Lucy Lawless – La biographie de Lucy Lawless avec Voici.fr |url=https://www.voici.fr/bios-people/lucy-lawless |access-date=19 May 2022 |publisher=Voici.fr |language=fr}} in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert to teacher Julie Ryan (née Haynes) and Mount Albert's mayor, banker Frank Ryan.{{cite web|url=http://www.filmreference.com/film/11/Lucy-Lawless.html |title=Lucy Lawless Film Reference biography |publisher=Filmreference.com |access-date=2 February 2014}} She is the fifth of six siblings (four brothers and one sister). She has described her family as "this big, sprawling Irish Catholic family",{{cite web|title=ESSENTIAL LUCY|url=http://www.lucylawless.info/lucy.php#Biography|work=Lucy Lawless|publisher=AUSXIP|date=2 April 2012|access-date=9 April 2012|archive-date=15 September 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110915071120/http://www.lucylawless.info/lucy.php#Biography|url-status=dead}} 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, Ireland.{{cite news|last=Gaffney|first=Siobhan|title=Grainne Mhaol|url=http://www.creationent.com/outback/fanclubs/ww/ww.html|newspaper=Ireland on Sunday|year=2004}}

Her first musical was at age 10{{cite web|url=http://www.nzonscreen.com/person/lucy-lawless?tab=biography|title= Biography|website=NZ On Screen}} and she began acting in secondary school. She attended Marist College, Auckland, and began studies at Auckland University in languages.{{cite magazine |date=May 2006 |title=Lucy Lawless On Her Family Crisis, Her Precious Children and Celebrity Life in LA |url=http://www.lucylawless.net/articles/2006/nzww0406/index.html |magazine=The Australian Women's Weekly |access-date=10 June 2020 }} 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.{{cite web|url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/photograph/38695/lucy-lawless-mrs-new-zealand-1989 |title=Lucy Lawless, Mrs New Zealand 1989|website= Te Ara}}

Lawless has said she suffered from bulimia as a child, but was able to overcome the illness.{{cite magazine |url=http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,615184,00.html|title=Lawless Bulimic No More| magazine=People|date=17 May 1999|access-date=18 June 2011|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120908072925/http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,615184,00.html|archive-date=2012-09-08}}

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".

{{Main|Xena: Warrior Princess}}

Lawless at [[San Diego Comic-Con in July 2010|thumb|upright]]

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.{{cite web|title=60 SECONDS: Lucy Lawless|url=http://metro.co.uk/2007/05/29/60-seconds-lucy-lawless-394067/|publisher=Metro.co.uk|access-date=2 April 2015|date=29 May 2007}}

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.{{cite web|url=http://www.lucylawless.info/grease/articles-photos.php|archive-url=https://archive.today/20040808063140/http://www.lucylawless.info/grease/articles-photos.php|url-status=dead|title=Lucy Lawless – Rizzo – Grease – Pics Scans Images|date=8 August 2004|archive-date=8 August 2004|website=Lucylawless.info|access-date=5 August 2017}}

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.{{cn|date=October 2024}}

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.{{cite magazine|url=http://people.com/movies/lynda-carter-and-beyond-the-celebs-who-have-played-wonder-woman/|title=Lynda Carter and Beyond: The Celebs Who Have Played Wonder Woman|date=1 June 2017|magazine = People |access-date=5 August 2017}} In 2014, Lawless voiced the militaristic "Queen of the Ants" in the American animated television series Adventure Time on the Cartoon Network.{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/2014/11/24/adventure-time-lucy-lawless-ant-queen/|title='Adventure Time' video: Lucy Lawless as the Ant Queen!|date=24 November 2014|website=Ew.com|access-date=5 August 2017}}

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.[http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-footballwivesstillalive,0,2633414.story ABC's 'Football Wives' Still Alive] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120925215841/http://www.zap2it.com/tv/news/zap-footballwivesstillalive%2C0%2C2633414.story |date=25 September 2012 }}, zap2it.com, 28 June 2007.[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/content_display/television/news/e3if3c2face58f90735ed568cb477b3024d "Football" still in ABC's game], The Hollywood Reporter, 28 June 2007

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", playing a madam with connections to a murder and helping Horatio "H" Caine with his inquiries.{{cite web|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/tv/tv-previews/csi-miami---five-9pm-411789|title=CSI: Miami – Five, 9pm|first=Jane|last=Simon|date=10 August 2009|website=Daily Mirror|access-date=5 August 2017}}

In 2009, Lawless appeared in two episodes of the final season of The L Word as Sergeant Marybeth Duffy.{{cite web|url=https://www.nzonscreen.com/person/lucy-lawless|title=Lucy Lawless – NZ On Screen|website=Nzonscreen.com|access-date=5 August 2017}} She played a role in the Adam Sandler film 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.{{cite web|author=Hustvedt, Marc|url=http://news.tubefilter.tv/2008/10/21/behind-the-scenes-with-sonys-angel-of-death-zoe-bell/|title=Behind the Scenes with Crackle's 'Angel of Death' Zoe Bell|publisher=Tubefilter News|date=21 October 2008|access-date=21 October 2008|archive-date=6 December 2008|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081206035055/http://news.tubefilter.tv/2008/10/21/behind-the-scenes-with-sonys-angel-of-death-zoe-bell/|url-status=dead}} In 2009, Lawless guest-starred in the HBO series Flight of the Conchords as Paula, assistant to the Prime Minister of New Zealand.{{cite web|url=http://www.fangoria.com/new/evil-dead-series-adds-lucy-lawless-becomes-full-fledged-raimi-reunion/|title="EVIL DEAD" Series Adds Lucy Lawless; Becomes Full-Fledged Raimi Reunion|work=FANGORIA®}}

Lawless co-starred in the Starz original series Spartacus: Blood and Sand.{{cite web|url=http://www.blastr.com/2015-3-9/bruce-campbell-lucy-lawless-joining-ash-vs-evil-dead|title=Bruce Campbell: Lucy Lawless joining Ash Vs. Evil Dead|work=Blastr|date=9 March 2015}} 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 played the role of Lucretia, the wife of Lentulus Batiatus, who were both the owners of a gladiator ludus, which also saw Lawless doing nude scenes for the first time. 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.dreadcentral.com/news/92582/lucy-lawless-joins-ash-vs-evil-dead/|title=Lucy Lawless Joins Ash vs. Evil Dead|work=Dread Central|date=9 March 2015}}

Lawless provided the voice of Goldmoon for Dragonlance: Dragons of Autumn Twilight, a direct-to-DVD animated film 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,{{cite web|url=https://www.tvguide.com/news/agents-shield-lucy-lawless-season2-1084667/|title=Exclusive: Lucy Lawless Heading to Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.|first=Natalie|last=Abrams|date=21 July 2014|work=TVGuide.com}} and reprised the role later in episode 15 of season two, "One Door Closes".{{cite web|url=http://marvel.com/news/tv/24258/declassifying_marvels_agents_of_shield_one_door_closes|title=Declassifying 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.': One Door Closes – News – Marvel.com|work=marvel.com}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://deadline.com/2015/01/lucy-lawless-stuart-townsend-cast-salem-video-1201349947/|title=[WATCH] Salem Season 2 Teaser – – Deadline|first=Denise|last=Petski|work=Deadline|date=14 January 2015}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/10/29/bruce-campbell-lucy-lawless-ash-vs-evil-dead/74603008/|title=Bruce Campbell's Ash returns to fight 'Evil Dead'|date=29 October 2015|work=USA TODAY}}{{cite web|url=https://bloody-disgusting.com/news/3335391/lucy-lawless-joins-sam-ramis-ash-vs-evil-dead/|title="Ash vs Evil Dead" Casts Lucy Lawless as Ash Hunter!|work=bloody-disgusting.com|date=9 March 2015}}

In 2019, Lawless began 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.{{cite web|url=https://collider.com/my-life-is-murder-season-3-renewed-lucy-lawless-acorn-tv/|title='My Life Is Murder': Lucy Lawless' Murder Mystery Series Renewed for Season 3 on AcornTV |first=Jon|last=Mendelsohn|date=10 February 2022|work=Collider.com}}

In 2023, Lawless co-wrote and directed Never Look Away, a film based on the life of New Zealand-born CNN photojournalist and camerawoman Margaret Moth. The film had its world premiere in the World Cinema Documentary Competition section of the 40th Sundance Film Festival in Park City and Salt Lake City, Utah, in January 2024,{{cite web |title=Lucy Lawless' Debut Feature Never Look Away to Premiere at Sundance |website=New Zealand Film Commission |date=11 December 2023 |url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/news/lucy-lawless-debut-feature-never-look-away-premiere-sundance |access-date=14 October 2024}}{{Cite web |title=Lucy Lawless' Debut Feature Never Look Away to Premiere at Sundance |url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/news/lucy-lawless-debut-feature-never-look-away-premiere-sundance |access-date=2024-01-01 |website=New Zealand Film Commission}} and has gone on to feature at several other film festivals in 2024.{{cite web |title=Never Look Away |website=New Zealand Film Commission |url=https://www.nzfilm.co.nz/films/never-look-away |access-date=14 October 2024}}

File:Lucy Lawless 2 cropped.jpg, 2007|upright]]

Lawless, who has a background in musical theatre, played Betty Rizzo on Broadway in a production of Grease in 1997.{{cite web |url=http://www.lucylawless.info/grease/index.php |title=AUSXIP Lucy Lawless Grease! Lucy Lawless on Broadway |publisher=Lucylawless.info |date=28 September 1997 |access-date=19 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120225114731/http://www.lucylawless.info/grease/index.php |archive-date=25 February 2012 |url-status=dead }} 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.{{cite web|url=https://ew.com/article/2012/01/27/podcast-spartacus-xena-lucy-lawless-liam-mcintyre/|title=Inside TV Podcast: Lucy Lawless and Liam McIntyre|date=27 January 2012|website=Ew.com|access-date=5 August 2017}} 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.{{cite web|last1=Butler|first1=Brendan|title=Lucy Lawless: Goodbye Warrior Princess, Hello Rock Star|url=https://www.cinemablend.com/music/Lucy-Lawless-Goodbye-Warrior-Princess-Hello-Rock-Star-2357.html|publisher=Cinema Bend|access-date=3 June 2015|date=14 January 2007}}

{{See also|Xena: Warrior Princess in popular culture}}

Xena's ambiguous romantic relationship with travelling companion Gabrielle (Renee O'Connor) led to Lawless becoming a lesbian icon, a role of which she has said she is proud.{{Cite news|url=http://nytlive.nytimes.com/womenintheworld/2015/11/25/lucy-lawless-on-the-xena-revival-her-new-show-and-seizing-life-with-both-hands/|title=Lucy Lawless on the "Xena" revival, her new show and seizing life with both hands|date=25 November 2015|work=Women in the World in Association with The New York Times – WITW|access-date=6 May 2017}} She has said that during the years she was playing the role, she had been undecided on the nature of the relationship,{{cite web|url=http://www.lucylawless.net/articles/lesnews03/index.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120721020411/http://www.lucylawless.net/articles/lesnews03/index.html|url-status=dead|title=AUSXIP Lucy Lawless – Lesbian News 2003|date=21 July 2012|archive-date=21 July 2012|website=Lucylawless.net|access-date=5 August 2017}} but in a 2003 interview with Lesbian News magazine, she said that after viewing the series finale, she had come to see Xena and Gabrielle's relationship as definitely gay, adding "they're married, man".{{Cite web|url=http://www.lucylawless.net/articles/lesnews03/index.html|title=AUSXIP Lucy Lawless {{!}} Lesbian News 2003|website=Lucylawless.net|access-date=6 May 2017}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.afterellen.com/tv/83231-an-interview-with-lucy-lawless|title=An interview with Lucy Lawless – AfterEllen|date=7 January 2011|work=AfterEllen|access-date=6 May 2017}} This reputation became cemented after her "graphic lesbian sex scenes" in Spartacus: Gods of the Arena.{{cite web|url=http://www.villagevoice.com/2011-06-22/news/girl-on-girl-action-becomes-pass/|title=Girl on girl action becomes passé|last=McCroy|first=Winnie|date=22 June 2011|publisher=Villagevoice.com|access-date=2 February 2014}}{{cite web|url=http://www.afterellen.com/blog/dorothysnarker/lucy-lawless-and-lesbians-bring-the-sexy-to-the-spartacus-blood-and-sand-trailer|title=Lucy Lawless and lesbians bring the sexy to the "Spartacus: Blood and Sand" trailer. AfterEllen.com|date=27 July 2009|publisher=Archive.is|access-date=2 February 2014|url-status = dead | archive-url = https://archive.today/20120722121649/http://www.afterellen.com/blog/dorothysnarker/lucy-lawless-and-lesbians-bring-the-sexy-to-the-spartacus-blood-and-sand-trailer|archive-date=22 July 2012}} She has appeared at gay pride events such as the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras.{{cite web|url=http://ausxip.com/mardigras.html|title=Lucy and Renee in Sydney in 1999 – Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras|publisher=Ausxip.com|access-date=2 February 2014|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707060223/http://ausxip.com/mardigras.html|archive-date=7 July 2012|url-status=dead}}

For her support of LGBT rights, including her public support for same-sex marriage,{{Cite news|url=http://www.afterellen.com/general-news/18928-lucy-lawless-goes-glamorous-for-lgbt-rights-in-san-francisco|title=Lucy Lawless goes glamorous for LGBT rights in San Francisco – AfterEllen|date=16 July 2007|work=AfterEllen|access-date=6 May 2017}} Lawless was given the Star 100–Ally of the Year award at the Australian LGBTI Awards ceremony in 2017.{{Cite news|url=https://www.aol.com/article/entertainment/2017/03/03/xena-warrior-princess-star-lucy-lawless-looks-totally-differe/21872819/|title='Xena: Warrior Princess' star Lucy Lawless looks totally different now – see the stunning pics!|author=AOL Staff|work=AOL.com|access-date=6 May 2017}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.australianlgbtiawards.com.au/star100---ally-of-the-year.html|title=Star100 – Ally of the Year|website=AUSTRALIAN LGBT AWARDS|access-date=6 May 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170520194945/http://www.australianlgbtiawards.com.au/star100---ally-of-the-year.html|archive-date=20 May 2017|url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite web|url=https://www.starship.org.nz/foundation/about-the-foundation/board-of-trustees/|title=Board of Trustees|work=starship.org.nz}} It is set up to provide additional equipment, support and help to staff, patients and families.{{cite web|url=http://www.starship.org.nz/ |title=Home |publisher=Starship.org.nz |access-date=19 March 2011}} She helps fundraising for the organisation. In 2008, she sat for the New Zealand television series The Sitting,{{youTube|gWt8DYh6FaE|Lucy Lawless on 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.{{cite web | url=http://lucylawless.net/events/Feel_The_Love_Day/index.php | title=Lucy Lawless Feel The Love Week – Doing Charitable Acts in Honour of Lucy Lawless | publisher=Lucy Lawless site | access-date=4 December 2014}}{{cite web | url=http://www.lucylawlessfanclub.com/feellove2013.html | title=Feel the Love 2013 | publisher=Official Lucy Lawless Fan Club | date=20 October 2013 | access-date=4 December 2014}}

In May 2009 Lawless became a "climate ambassador" for the Greenpeace "Sign On" campaign.{{cite web|url=http://www.signon.org.nz |publisher=Greenpeace New Zealand |title=Sign On |access-date=19 March 2011}}

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.{{cite web |url=http://www.3news.co.nz/Lucy-Lawless-boards-oil-drilling-ship/tabid/1160/articleID/244040/Default.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120718210005/http://www.3news.co.nz/Lucy-Lawless-boards-oil-drilling-ship/tabid/1160/articleID/244040/Default.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=18 July 2012 |title=Lucy Lawless boards oil drilling ship |publisher=3news.co.nz |date=February 2012 }} She was subsequently arrested and charged with burglary, which carried an imprisonment term of up to 10 years if convicted.{{cite web |url= http://tvnz.co.nz/national-news/lawless-charged-burglary-after-ship-protest-4743249 |title= Lawless charged with burglary after ship protest |publisher= Television New Zealand |date= 27 February 2011 |access-date= 27 February 2011}} 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.{{cite web|url=https://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/actress-lucy-lawless-pleads-guilty-trespass-16562451 |title=Actress Lucy Lawless Pleads Guilty to Trespass|publisher=ABC News |date=14 June 2012|first=Nick|last=Perry |agency=Associated Press| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120615021153/http://abcnews.go.com/Entertainment/wireStory/actress-lucy-lawless-pleads-guilty-trespass-16562451#.VH__MZM3G00 | archive-date=15 June 2012|url-status=dead}} 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."{{cite web|url=http://herocomplex.latimes.com/tv/lucy-lawless-sentenced-greenpeace-protest/#/0|title=Lucy Lawless sentenced, and the warrior princess is thrilled|work=Los Angeles Times|date=7 February 2013|access-date=24 February 2013}}

File:Lawless 09 (41432802265).jpg 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,{{Cite news |last=Brady |first=James |date=27 July 1997 |title=In Step: Lucy Lawless |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/168159713/?match=1&terms=%22lucy%20lawless%22%20garth |url-access=subscription |access-date=2024-11-28 |website=Parade Magazine, Arizona Daily Star |page=16 |pages= |language=en |quote=Married Garth Lawless in 1988.}} then returned to New Zealand where their daughter was born. They divorced in 1995.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20103221,00.html|title=Xena-Phile|author=Schneider, Karen S.|date=8 April 1996|magazine=People|access-date=30 March 2015|archive-date=2 April 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402101759/http://www.people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20103221,00.html|url-status=dead}}

On 28 March 1998, Lawless married Xena's executive producer, Pacific Renaissance Pictures CEO Robert Tapert, at St. Monica Catholic Church in Santa Monica, California.{{Cite web |date=2004-07-21 |title=Santa Monica,Ca. Actor Kevin Sorbo And His Wife Sam, Leaving The... |url=https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/santa-monica-ca-actor-kevin-sorbo-and-his-wife-sam-leaving-news-photo/51099087 |access-date=2024-08-26 |website=Getty Images |language=en-us}} They have two sons.{{Cite web |date=1 November 2013 |title=There's something about: Lucy Lawless, Actress |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/theres-something-about-lucy-lawless-actress/6OO33K2LBUUH46TZBUSTINIGZY/ |access-date=3 May 2022 |website=The New Zealand Herald }}

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.{{cite web |url=https://dpmc.govt.nz/publications/queens-birthday-honours-list-2004 |title=Queen's Birthday honours list 2004 |date=7 June 2004 |publisher=Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet |access-date=30 May 2020}}

Astronomer Michael E. Brown nicknamed his newly discovered dwarf planet "Xena" in 2003,{{Cite news |last=Spears |first=Tom |date=15 September 2006 |title=Dwarf Planet Xena Renamed after Mythological Goddess |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/512927256 |url-access=subscription |work=The Star-Phoenix |pages=B6 |agency=CanWest News Service}} its then-provisional designation being {{mp|2003 UB|313}}. 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.{{cite journal| url=https://www.newscientist.com/article.ns?id=dn7811| title=Your top 10 names for the tenth planet| author=O'Neill, Sean |date=8 August 2005 |journal= New Scientist|access-date=2 February 2014}} 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".{{cite web|url=http://www.lucylawlessfanclub.com/messages.html |title=Messages from Lucy |publisher=Lucylawlessfanclub.com |access-date=2 February 2014}} Eventually, Xena and Pluto were deemed not to be true planets, and were instead classified as dwarf planets. In 2006, the dwarf planet nicknamed Xena was officially named Eris. However, Brown made an indirect tribute to Lawless by naming Eris's moon Dysnomia after the Greek goddess of lawlessness.{{cite web|last=Tytell |first=David |url=http://www.skyandtelescope.com/astronomy-news/all-hail-eris-and-dysnomia/ |title=All Hail Eris and Dysnomia |website=SkyandTelescope.com |date=14 September 2006 |access-date=2 February 2014}}

{{BLP unreferenced section|date=August 2019}}

{{pending films key}}

• Hunted: The Demon's Forge (2011), as Seraphine
• Evil Dead: The Game (2023), as Ruby Knowby

• 1997: Grease! – On Broadway, NY USA
• 2002: The Vagina Monologues – Auckland, NZ
• 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{{cite web|title=Cast and Crew|url=http://www.pleasuredomethemusical.com/cast-and-crew/|website=Pleasuredome|access-date=21 January 2018}}

; Albums

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

;Concert DVDs

• Come to Mama: Lucy Lawless in Concert: The Roxy Theater in Hollywood
• Gimme Some, Sugar: Lawless, NYC
• Lucy Lawless Live in Chicago: Still Got The Blues
• Lucy Lawless Live at The Roxy Theater: Ho Down
• Lucy Lawless Live in Concert: Welcome to the Pleasuredome

;Other songs

• "Little Child" on Unexpected Dreams – Songs From the Stars
• "4 All of Us" with Pauly Fuemana (OMC)
• "Little Child" on The Starship Christmas Album 2012 – Starship Foundation

{{Reflist}}

{{Commons category|Lucy Lawless}}

{{Wikiquote}}

• {{IMDb name|0005128|Lucy Lawless}}
• {{emmytvlegends name|lucy-lawless}}
• {{IBDB name}}

{{S-start}}

{{succession box | before = Susan Eisenberg (2001–2006) | title = Voice of
Wonder Woman | years = 2008 | after = Keri Russell (2009)}}

{{s-end}}

{{Saturn Award for Best Supporting Actress on Television}}

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lawless, Lucy}}

Category:1968 births

Category:20th-century New Zealand actresses

Category:21st-century New Zealand actresses

Category:New Zealand LGBTQ rights activists

Category:Living people

Category:Members of the New Zealand Order of Merit

Category:New Zealand expatriates in Australia

Category:New Zealand expatriate actresses in the United States

Category:20th-century New Zealand women singers

Category:New Zealand film actresses

Category:New Zealand people of Irish descent

Category:New Zealand stage actresses

Category:New Zealand television actresses

Category:New Zealand video game actresses

Category:New Zealand voice actresses

Category:People educated at Marist College, Auckland

Category:Actresses from Auckland

Category:21st-century New Zealand women singers

Category:University of Auckland alumni

Category:New Zealand documentary film directors

Category:New Zealand women film directors