Lucy Lawless

Lucille Frances "Lucy" Lawless, MNZM (née Ryan; born March 29, 1968) is a New Zealand actress best known for playing the title character of the internationally successful television series Xena: Warrior Princess (1995–2001). She is also widely known for her role as Number Three on the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica series (2005–2009) and for the role of Lucretia on the television series Spartacus: Blood and Sand (2010), its prequel Spartacus: Gods of the Arena (2011) and its sequel Spartacus: Vengeance (2012). Most recently, Lawless had a recurring role on the fifth and sixth season of the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation as Diane Lewis, a single mother who falls for Ron Swanson (2012–2015), starred as Countess Palatine Ingrid von Marburg on the WGN America series Salem (2015) and plays Ruby on Ash vs. Evil Dead (2015–present). 2Early life Lucille Frances "Lucy" Ryan was born in the Auckland, New Zealand suburb of Mount Albert, the daughter of Julie Ryan, a teacher, and Frank Ryan, a banker and Mount Albert's mayor. She is the fifth of six siblings, who include her four brothers and one sister. Lawless has described her family as "this big, sprawling Irish Catholic family", and while filming in Ireland for the Discovery Channel in 2004, she told Ireland on Sunday: her father's family originated in Quilty, County Clare, and her great-grandfather arrived in New Zealand as a convict. Ryan appeared in her first musical at the age of 10 and began acting in secondary school. She attended Marist College, Auckland, and at 18, like many young New Zealanders, she went on her "overseas experience", traveling through Europe and Australia with her future husband, Garth Lawless. At 21, she won the 1989 Mrs New Zealand competitio