A lot of people in Hollywood know Epatha Merkenson. She is an award-winning American actress notable for playing Anita Van Buren in NBC’s Law & Order. Safe to say, Epatha is quite famous in Hollywood. But how much do you know about her former husband, Toussaint l Jones?
It is quite common for people in Hollywood to get married to regular people. Some people want to get married to celebrities, others to regular people with regular jobs. Epatha had a marriage like the latter group, but it ended in a divorce.
Today, we will talk about her former husband, what happened between the two of them, and where is he now.
Story Stages
Who is his famous wife?
Born S Epatha Merkenson in November 1952, she is a film, stage, and television actress. Throughout her career, Epatha has won several high-profile accolades. That includes an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She has also been nominated for a Tony Award two times.
Most fans recognize her for playing Lieutenant Anita Van Buren on the NBC police drama series Law and Order. She played that role from 1993 to 2010, appearing in a total of 391 episodes.
Born in Saginaw, Michigan, she was raised in Detroit. Epatha is the youngest member of her family with four other siblings, Linda Merkerson, Debbie Merkerson Gooch, Barrie Merkerson, and Zephyr Merkerson. They were all raised by their mother Ann, who worked for the post office.
Fun fact: her name was chosen by her father, because of high early days. Asked about it, she said, “It was the name of a grade school teacher who was influential in keeping her father in school”.
Regarding her own education, she graduated from Cooley High School in 1970 and then earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in theatre at Wayne State University in 1976. In May 2009, she was made an Honorary Doctor of Human Letters by Wayne State University.
Shortly after getting her BA, in 1978, the American actress moved to New York City. There, she began pursuing her acting career. And she made her television debut as Reba the Mail Lady on Pee-wee’s Playhouse. Among other series, she also appeared on The Cosby Show early on.
Here is an interesting fact. Her Law and Order career began with a small role. She appeared for the first time in Episode 17 of Season 1, titled Mushrooms. In that episode, she portrayed a grief-stricken mother of an 11-month-old boy who is shot accidentally. But she impressed the producers, and they chose her to replace Dann Florek as detective squad chief in the fourth season.
In April 2010, after 17 seasons, she left Law & Order. It was the final episode of the show, and she appeared in a total of 391 episodes, more than any other actor associated with the program.
In 2012, she became the host of Find Our Missing, a reality series on TV One, profiling missing people of color. The same year, she appeared in the movie Lincoln by Steven Spielberg.
In 2019, she appeared on the television series Finding Your Roots. During that episode, she revealed she was a descendant of Isaac Hawkins and eight others of the 272 enslaved people who were sold in the 1838 Jesuit slave sale by Jesuit priests.
As for her name, in one interview, she said S in S Epatha Merkenson stands for “Sweet”. But she then admitted that a classmate from high school divulged her first name, making it public knowledge. She began using her first initial because she got the idea from G Gordon Liddy.
Quick Bio
Toussaint l Jones is a former celebrity husband born in the United States of America. Yet, we have to admit, there are no details about his exact birth date or exact birthplace. We do not know when he was born, so we cannot properly say how old he is.
He got famous for being married and in a relationship with renowned actress Epatha Merkenson.
Regarding his education, there are no precise details. We know he got his elementary graduate certification and high school diploma in the United States. But there is no information about higher education or anything like that.
When he was with Epatha, Toussaint Jones kept his personal information private and secretive. So, we cannot find out what his career was. What did he do for a living? What happened to him after they broke up? Where is he now?
Those are all questions up in the air.
Marriage to Epatha
According to some sources, the two met in 1975, when the actress was working in Albany, New York. It took a while for them to get married. Most sources point to March 1994 as their wedding date in a private ceremony.
Then, after 12 years of being together, they got a divorce in February 2006. During their long marriage, they had no children.
There is no information about other children of Jones. Or any romantic relationships before or after his involvement with the famous American actress.
Is he on social media?
As we said before, Toussaint l Jones leads a private life. He doesn’t share information about his life on social media. There is no profile under his name on Instagram, Twitter, or Facebook.
The former husband of the American actress disappeared from the public the moment they got a divorce.
On the other hand, Epatha often posts on social media. She has an Instagram profile with more than 66k followers. Now, you might say that is a low number of fans and followers. But sometimes, you need just a handful of loyal fans.
Net worth
There is no career information about Toussaint Jones. While he was married to Epatha, we didn’t hear anything about his work or career field. That is why we cannot talk about his net worth.
What we do know is that his former spouse, the renowned American actress, has a net worth of more than $11 million. She had an impeccable career in the entertainment industry, spanning more than three decades.
