Lucy Lawless Lucy Lawless was born on March 29, 1968 and from the time she was born her parent knew she would be a force to be reckoned with. Lawless sports dark black hair, blue eyes and stands an imposing six feet tall. She is the fifth of seven children.
Lawless first got the acting bug at the age of 15, when her mother took her to an opera performance in France. That prompted her to begin opera classes and a lifelong affinity with singing.
She has always had somewhat of a gypsy spirit. She dropped out of college, ran off to Australia and took a job mining gold. As one of the only women miners, Lucy did the same hard work as the men - digging, mapping the ground, driving trucks, and getting samples of earth through a diamond saw. During her time in Australia, Lawless married, but the relationship did not last and she returned to Auckland pregnant. Shortly thereafter, her daughter, Daisy was born. Being home, and a single mother, Lawless renewed her dream of having a career on the stage.
She landed her first real acting job at age 20, with a comedy troop on television called Funny Business.
Lawless moved to Vancouver, Canada to study drama at the William Davis Center for Actors Study. In 1992, she returned to Auckland again as the co-host for Air New Zealand Holiday, a travel magazine show.
The dark haired beauty didn’t get the attention of Americans until she starred as Xena in a three-episode arc of the hit series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. She was so beloved by the public, that they created a spin-off for Lawless called, Xena: Warrior Princess.
Lawless said of the role: "a woman as strong as any man or woman has ever been, who lives by her wits, but is also a fighter. She's a very human hero, who knows all about the darker side of human nature since she must battle it within herself every day."
After years on television, she finally was able to get to the stage in 1995. She made her Broadway debut when she took advantage of the opportunity to play the tough talking Betty Rizzo in Grease, previously played int he movie by Stockard Channing. The opportunity arose when Lucy, appearing on The Rosie ODonnell Show, sang I'm an Old Cowhand.
Lucy makes her home in Auckland, New Zealand. Divorced from Garth Lawless, Lucy and Garth now share custody of their daughter Daisy. Lucy became engaged to Xena: Warrior Princess executive producer Rob Tapert and married in Santa Monica, California on March 28, 1998. |
