Standing almost 6′ tall, with her natural honey brown hair dyed black and exhibiting a distinctive flair for martial arts, Lucy Lawless went from being an obscure New Zealand actor to international fame as “Xena: Warrior Princess” (syndicated, 1995-2001).
As a college student, Lawless (born Lucy Ryan) decided she did not have the passion for opera she had thought and dropped out of school to travel throughout Europe. Joined by her high school sweetheart Garth Lawless, she landed in Australia where she found herself pregnant. After a hasty marriage, Lawless and the family (which now included a daughter) moved to British Columbia for a short spell so she could study acting. Returning to New Zealand, she landed bit parts in international co-productions. In 1994, Lawless made two guest appearances on the internationally syndicated series “Hercules: The Legendary Journeys”, as a renegade Amazon lieutenant and an unrepentant villain who gives birth to a baby centaur. American actress Vanessa Angel had been cast as Xena, the female counterpart to Hercules, in three episodes of the series. When she fell ill, the producers turned to Lawless to make additional “Hercules” guest shots. A three-part storyline turned into the “Xena: Warrior Princess” spin-off series, which became the international syndication hit of the 1995-96 season, and garnered a devoted fan following on par with fans of “Star Trek.” Lawless not only convincingly embodied Xena’s combative, tough-as-nails demeanor, she was also extremely potent in the series’ more emotional scenes and had fun with the are-they-or-aren’t-they? relationship between Xena and her sidekick Gabrielle (Renee O’Connor). Her marriage to Garth Lawless was a casualty of her burgeoning career, ending in divorce in 1995, but she married “Xena” producer Rob Tapert in 1998.
