Tamara Tunie (born March 14, 1959) is an American film, stage, and television actress, director, and producer. She is best known for her roles as attorney Jessica Griffin on the CBS soap opera As the World Turns (1987–1995, 2000–2007, 2009) and as medical examiner Melinda Warner in the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2000–2021). Tunie has appeared in a number of movies, including Wall Street (1987), Rising Sun (1993), The Devil's Advocate (1997), and Flight (2012). She received a Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female nomination for her performance in the 2001 drama film The Caveman's Valentine. In 2010, she made her directing debut with romantic comedy film See You in September. Tunie also received the Tony Award for Best Musical in 2007 for producing Spring Awakening and Obie Award for Distinguished Performance by an Actress in 2016 for Familiar. Early life Tunie was born in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Homestead, the daughter of Evelyn (née Hawkins) and James W. Tunie. She has a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theatre from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. She was a contestant in the Miss Black Teenage Pageant in Pittsburgh in the early 1970s. Career Tunie made her Broadway debut alongside Lena Horne in Lena Horne: The Lady and Her Music in 1981. From 1987 to 1995, she starred in the CBS daytime soap opera As the World Turns playing attorney Jessica Griffin. She reprised the role from 2000 to 2007, receiving NAACP Image Awards nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Daytime Drama Series in 2003 and 2004. In the 1990s. Tunie guest-starred in primetime dramas including Swift Justice, Law & Order, Chicago Hope, New York Undercover, and Sex and the City. She also had a recurring role as Lillian Fancy in the ABC police drama NYPD Blue from 1994 to 1997. Tunie has had supporting roles in a number of movies. She made her film debut in Sweet Lorraine opposite Maureen Stapleton and later appeared in Wall Street (1987). Tunie worked twice with Al Pacino; she portrayed his press secretary in the film City Hall (1996) and the possessed wife of a partner in his law firm in the film The Devil's Advocate (1997). Her other credits include Bloodhounds of Broadway (1989), Rising Sun (1993), Eve's Bayou (1997), The Peacemaker (1997), and Snake Eyes (1998). In 2001, she received a nomination for