Lucy Lawless

Lucy Lawless, MNZM is a New Zealander actress and singer best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess. She is also known for her role on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica. Most recently she appeared on the television series Spartacus: Vengeance, Spartacus: Blood and Sand and its prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena, playing the major character Lucretia. Lawless was born in the Auckland suburb of Mount Albert in New Zealand, the daughter of Julie Ryan, a teacher, and Frank Ryan, who was a banker and Mount Albert... mayor. Lawless was the fifth of seven children, and has five brothers and one sister, and has described her parents and siblings as "this big, sprawling Irish Catholic family." While filming in Ireland for the Discovery Channel in 2004, Lawless told Ireland on Sunday that her father's family originated in Quilty, County Clare, and her great grandfather arrived in New Zealand as a convict. Lawless appeared in her first musical at the age of 10, and began acting in secondary school.
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