Sept 16, 2003
Lucy Lawless, best known for her role as Xena on Xena: Warrior Princess, joins the cast of Tarzan as Kathleen
Clayton, a powerful newspaper publisher who happens to be Tarzan's protective aunt. Lawless recently finished filming
Dreamworks' comedy feature The Ugly Americans.
Born Lucille Frances Ryan in Mount Albert, Auckland, New Zealand, Lawless was the fifth of seven children, five brothers and
one sister. Lawless enjoyed acting and appeared in many high school plays. She later attended Auckland University, where she
studied opera for several years and then acting at the William Davis Center for Actors in Vancouver, Canada, under the direction
of actor William Davis, also known as the Cigarette Smoking Man from the series The X-Files. Lawless's varied jobs prior to
acting professionally include grape picking, gold mining and hosting a travel program. After appearing in a travel commercial, she
landed her first real acting job in a New Zealand comedy troupe show called Funny Business.
Lawless worked in numerous film and television productions before she got her big break as Lysia in Hercules and the Amazon
Women. She changed her image to also play the part of Xena in the series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, which eventually
led to her own spin-off series, Xena: Warrior Princess. Lawless appeared on the international cult hit Xena: Warrior Princess for
six seasons. She has since appeared on The X-Files, The Bernie Mac Show, Just Shoot Me and was a voice on The Simpsons. On
stage, she has starred in The Vagina Monologues and as Rizzo in the Broadway run of Grease. Lawless has guest-hosted
Saturday Night Live and recently hosted Discovery Channel's documentary series Warrior Women set to air internationally.
In addition to The Ugly Americans, on the big screen, Lawless has worked with Tarzan executive producer Laura Ziskin in
Spider-Man and is currently working with Eric Kripke, co-executive producer of Tarzan, in the theatrical film, Boogeyman,
which also stars Barry Watson of 7th Heaven.
Lawless was crowned Mrs. New Zealand in 1989 and, in 1997, People magazine chose her as one of the "50 Most Beautiful
People in the World." She has done extensive charity work in support of breast cancer research and the prevention of child
abuse. She is also a board member of the Starship Children's Hospital Foundation in New Zealand. Recently, she returned to her
singing roots and embarked on a concert tour of New Zealand. An avid traveler, Lawless speaks German, Italian and French. She
lives with her husband and three children and will divide her time between Los Angeles and Toronto during the filming of the
series.
http://www.thewb.com/Faces/CastBio/0,7930,128016~1,00.html
