About Tamara Tunie
Tamara Tunie (born March 14, 1959) is an American film, stage, and television actress, singer, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns (1987–1995, 1999–2007, 2009) and as medical examiner Melinda Warner in the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000–2021). Tunie also appeared in films such as Rising Sun (1993), The Devil's Advocate (1997), The Caveman's Valentine (2001) receiving an Independent Spirit Award nomination for Best Supporting Female, Flight (2012), and Whitney Houston: I Wanna Dance with Somebody (2022). Since February 2025, she has played the role of Anita Dupree on the CBS daytime soap opera Beyond the Gates, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series in 2026. In 2002, Tunie played Alberta Green in the first season of the Fox thriller series 24. Tunie won a Tony Award in 2007 for the production of the Broadway musical Spring Awakening; she has also won a Drama Desk Award. She made her debut as Warner in the second season episode titled "Noncompliance" and continued to make recurring appearances until Season 7, when she became a regular cast member. In 2016, she won an Obie Award for Distinguished Performance in Familiar, written by Danai Gurira.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.