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Today's Birthday March 29: New Zealand actor Lucy Lawless (1968-).
Lucy Lawless is best known for playing Xena from the television series Xena: Warrior Princess.
Born Lucille Frances Ryan on March 29, 1968 in Auckland, she played the lead role for a very successful six seasons of the television show, from 1995 to 2001.
Lawless, like her on-screen character, has long had a passion for adventure.
After studying foreign languages for a year at university, she left to travel Europe with her boyfriend, Garth Lawless.
It was only at 22, back in Australia and married with a two-year-old daughter, that Lawless made a start in the entertainment industry, with a guest role on New Zealand TV series Shark in the Park (1990).
In 1995, to replace another actress who fell ill, Lawless was chosen to play a new character in an episode of Hercules: The Legendary Journeys.
The villainess warlord Xena became so popular, she got her own series, Xena: Warrior Princess which debuted in 1995 and was a huge hit.
Unfortunately her marriage was not, and the couple divorced the same year.
However, in 1998 she married the executive producer of Xena: Warrior Princess, Robert G Tapert, with whom she has two sons, Julius and Judah.
Since Xena: Warrior Princess wrapped in 2001, Lawless has appeared in the Vagina Monologues, on the first two episodes of the ninth season of The X-Files, and in the short-lived television series Tarzan.
She has had brief appearances in the movies Eurotrip, Spider-Man, and the horror film Boogeyman.
In 2005 she started a recurring role as D'Anna Biers on Battlestar Galactica.
She appeared on the show sixteen times before it finished in 2009.
Her most recent role was as Diane Lewis on Parks and Recreation (2012-2013).
