Beyond the Gates star Tamara Tunie celebrates her birthday

Beyond the Gates matriarch Anita Dupree is facing the fight of her life as she battles breast cancer on the CBS soap opera. In real life, her portrayer, Tamara Tunie, is facing a much happier circumstance -- her birthday!

Beyond the Gates, Happy Birthday, Tamara Tunie

Tunie received a birthday shoutout from her TV daughter, Karla Mosley (Dani), who posted on Instagram: "Happy Birthday to the fabulous, talented, generous, hilarious, genius QUEEN who is @msttunie ⭐️🥳👑. WE LOVE YOU!!!"

The actress, who plays Anita Dupree, was born on March 14 in McKeesport, Pennsylvania. She first came to the attention of soap opera fans as attorney Jessica Griffin on As the World Turns. The late, great head writer Douglas Marland created the character of the savvy, beautiful, and intelligent Jessica. She came to Oakdale to join the Hughes law firm after Tom Hughes (played then by Gregg Marx) opted to spend time in Washington. D.C.

Tunie is also known in the Law & Order universe as Dr. Melinda Warner, a medical examiner, on Law & Order: SVU. She played that part from 2000 to 2021.

While Anita lives in Fairmont Crest, her portrayer grew up in Pennsylvania. Her parents, James W. Tunie and Evelyn Hawkins Tunie, ran a funeral home. Tunie sang in both her high school and her church choir. After earning a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Musical Theater from Carnegie Mellon University, she was later elected to the university's Board of Trustees.

Beyond the credits

Tunie as Jessica Griffin from ATWT and as Anita with Vernon (Clifton Davis) on Beyond the Gates | Image: JPI; CBS

Tunie's other credits include roles in Law & Order, Chicago Hope, Swift Justice, Sex and the City, and New York Undercover. She also appeared on NYPD BLUE in the recurring role of Lillian Fancy.

On the big screen, Tunie has appeared in Sweet Lorraine, Wall Street, The Devil's Advocate, Bloodhounds of Broadway, Eve's Bayou, and Snake Eyes. In 2024, Tunie reprised her SVU role as Melinda in Law & Order: Organized Crime, which reunited her with her former SVU co-star Christ Meloni, who was headlining the new Law & Order series.

On Beyond the Gates, Anita is the matriarch of the Dupree family, which is well-known in political circles and within the community of Fairmont Crest. Anita and Vernon (Clifton Davis) have a solid marriage as evidenced by his support of her as she continues to battle breast cancer in a storyline that has been both dramatically entertaining and educational.