Mariska Hargitay

Age: 46
Height: 5' 7 1/2"

Birth Place: Santa Monica, California, USA
Born: Jan. 23rd, 1964

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Mariska Hargitay's Main TV Roles

Show	Character(s)
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Detective O…
Tequila and Bonetti	Officer Ang…
Prince Street	Detective N…
Can't Hurry Love	Didi Edelst…
Downtown (1986)	Jesse Smith

NOTE: Complete List of Works can be found at IMDB

BIOGRAPHY:

Mariska (Ma-rish-ka) Magdolna Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964, in Santa Monica, California. Her parents are Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield. She is the youngest of their three children. In June 1967, Mariska and her brothers Zoltan and Mickey Jr. were in the back seat of a car when it was involved in the fatal accident which killed her mother. The children escaped with minor injuries.

Mariska majored in theater at UCLA but dropped out before graduating. Her first motion picture feature was the cult favorite, Ghoulies (1985), where she gave a memorable performance as Donna. She also appeared in Leaving Las Vegas (1995), credited as 'Hooker at the bar', and in Lake Placid (1999) as Myra Okubo. Her latest movie, Plain Truth (2004) (TV), in which she plays attorney Ellie Harrison will air in the fall of 2004.

In 1999 she was cast in the role of Det. Olivia Benson in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999), the first spinoff from the excellent franchise of "Law & Order" (1990) (which also has two other spinoffs, "Law & Order: Criminal Intent" (2001) and "Law & Order: Trial by Jury" (2005)). This show deals with sex crimes and the detectives who solve these cases.

Mariska speaks English, Hungarian, French and Italian. She married actor Peter Hermann (I) on August 28, 2004. They divide their time between New York and Los Angeles.

TRIVIA:

On one occasion, she came upon a pregnant woman who collapsed while in New York City. When no one else came to the woman's aid, she lapsed into her character on _"Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (1999)_ (qv) while aiding the victim.
Good friends with actress 'Hilary Swank' (qv). Hilary stays with Mariska when on location in New York.
Stepdaughter of 'Ellen Hargitay' (qv).
Became good friends with 'Maria Bello' (qv) when she had a recurring role on _"ER" (1994)_ (qv) in 1997-1998.
First woman ever from the Law and Order franchise to receive award nominations and wins.
She learned to swim at the age of two and later swam for her high school.
Has a partially collapsed lung, but condition is improving [January 13, 2009].
(April 2004) Engaged to actor 'Peter Hermann (I)' (qv).