Shining a spotlight on Sharon Lawrence 

Emmy Award-nominated and SAG Award-winning actress Sharon Lawrence ’83 has graced the screen in shows such as “NYPD Blue,” “Shameless,” “How to Get Away with Murder,” “Grey’s Anatomy” and more. But before that, she found her voice through media and journalism classes at UNC.  

“My advertising professor, the J-school legend John Sweeney, allowed me to sing my advertising pitch,” Lawrence said. “Not only did he and the class respond well to that creativity, but he recommended me to an advertising executive and colleague in Chicago to listen to my tape for potential voiceover and jingle singing.”  

Sweeney’s encouragement is what gave Lawrence the confidence to pursue her budding talent professionally. 

“I taught at UNC Hussman for decades and still can instantly remember Sharon’s singing,” Sweeney said. “It was that extraordinary.” 

Lawrence, who looked up to her television reporter dad and fictional journalist Mary Tyler Moore, always knew that she wanted to be on the screen. Seeing her dad on WRAL and acting in local productions in Charlotte demystified performing for Lawrence. She also credits “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” for portraying an independent woman on the screen and bringing women into the writers’ room.  

“‘The Mary Tyler Moore Show’ was a game changer for all women in my era, not only because she was a woman in (relative) power in the newsroom but because she was independent in many ways – single, no kids and enjoying a happy life with romance, reproductive freedom, great female friendships, a chic apartment and fantastic wardrobe,” Lawrence said.  

About a third of the writers on the show were women, and one of the writers, Treva Silverman, became the first female writer to win an Emmy for comedy writing. 

“The show helped pave the way for future generations of women in television and the acting industry,” Lawrence said. 

As a student, she performed in productions with PlayMakers Repertory Company, the Department of Dramatic Art and the Carolina Union. Lawrence also volunteered for the on-campus sexual assault hotline that later became SafeWalk. Her experience inspired her to advocate for women throughout her personal and professional life.

Lawrence dove into performing after graduation, but journalism was still a viable career option for her. She could see herself in iconic female anchors like Bobbie Battista, Barbara Walters and Cokie Roberts.  

“Cokie Roberts, our current Chancellor’s mother, was a trailblazer covering politics in D.C., a founding member of NPR and later a co-anchor of the Sunday morning show on ABC. She changed the way women covering the news saw how they could lead full, happy lives as a successful professional, loving wife and mother and was a willing and kind mentor to other women,” Lawrence said. 

She knew journalism would return to her life in one way or another.  

She performed and toured in Broadway shows, including “Zorba,” “Fiddler on the Roof,” “Cabaret” and “Chicago,” before moving to California to pursue television. While in Los Angeles, Lawrence joined alumni groups to stay involved with Carolina. She has spoken to media and journalism students about intellectual property in Hollywood and supports UNC’s Hollywood Internship Program. 

In 2024, Lawrence earned the University’s Distinguished Alumni Award, adding to her previous recognition as one of two Distinguished Young Alumni in 1998. Both of the awards celebrate alumni who have made outstanding contributions to humanity and whose achievements have brought credit to the University.  

“I feel honored and humbled because these are recognitions from such an august institution as UNC-Chapel Hill, but also because I served on the Carolina Alumni Board of Directors as an elected representative from the west coast for years and am keenly aware that both awards are nominated and voted on by accomplished, devoted and generous Tar Heel peers,” Lawrence said. 

Her leadership transcends the Carolina community. Lawrence, a member and former chair of the board of directors of the Women in Film (WIF) Foundation, works to advance the careers of female storytellers and executives. She was interested when a fellow WIF member pitched a script that combined her love for acting, women’s advocacy and journalism.  

“At a Women in Film event I was hosting, I was asked by playwright Robin Gerber, who also writes on women’s leadership, to read her first ever play. When she told me it was a solo piece about Katharine Graham’s early life struggles before she became the famed publisher of The Washington Post, I was intrigued,” Lawrence said. 

As CEO of The Washington Post, Graham took a risk by publishing reports about the Pentagon Papers and encouraged investigating Watergate when few other media outlets were.  

Gerber’s play, titled “The Shot,” explores how Graham’s resilience as a wife who experienced abuse set the stage for her transformation into an emblem of power in the media world. The one-woman show starring Lawrence as Graham hits the PlayMakers stage January 7-12, 2025. 

PlayMakers will host a talkback for the UNC Hussman community after the 2 p.m. showing on Jan. 11, including a moderated conversation between Lawrence and Associate Dean for Undergraduate Studies and Curriculum Jules Dixon-Green.

“Sharon Lawrence’s advocacy for women in media and her dedication to mentoring Carolina students reflect the value of service that we strive to instill in our graduates,” Dean Raul Reis said. “As a school community, we are proud of her inspiring career journey and excited to learn from her portrayal of journalism icon Katharine Graham. We are grateful to have Sharon as part of the UNC Hussman story.” 

“The Shot” will be Lawrence’s first performance at PlayMakers since the 1983 season, when she starred in “The Greeks” and “Star-Crossed Lovers.” 

“I am looking forward to performing in a building where I found my voice as an actor and even more, to exchanging ideas and my experience in class with the students who come to see and learn from the play,” Lawrence said.