Mariska Hargitay is best known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson in the TV drama series, Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
Born January 23, 1964, in Los Angeles, CA, to Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay, Mariska was three years old when her mother was killed in a car accident. Mariska and her two brothers were asleep in the back seat of the car when it smashed into the back of a tractor-trailer truck, instantly killing their mother, the driver, and another passenger. The children all escaped with minor bruises.
In 1982, Mariska won the Miss Beverly Hills pageant. A year later she made her screen debut in a small role in Star 80. Among the other movies she has appeared in are Ghoulies (1985), Mr. Universe (1988), Leaving Las Vegas (1995), Lake Placid (1999), and Perfume (2001).
Hargitay landed her first television series role in 1986, when she played Jesse Smith, in the series Downtown. She played Carly Fixx in Falcon Crest (1988), Officer Angela Garcia in Tequila and Bonetti (1992), and Det. Nina Echeverria in Prince Street (1997). Hargitay played in the recurring role of Cynthia Hooper, Dr. Mark Green's love interest, on E.R., and had guest roles in many other series.
Hargitay has won both a Golden Globe Award and the Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.
Career Highlights: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Season 08, Welcome to 18, Jocks
First Major Screen Credit: Welcome to 18 (1986)
Biography
The daughter of legendary sex symbol Jayne Mansfield and former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay, Mariska Hargitay appears born to play the type of larger-than-life roles that would make her a Hollywood idol. Instead, from her breakthrough performance as a vulnerable single mother on ER to her starring turn as a somber detective on Law & Order: SVU, the talented actress has built her career by portraying real-life characters and keeping out of the spotlight. Raised in Los Angeles, Hargitay was a child of divorce before she celebrated her first birthday. In 1967, her mother died tragically when her car collided with a truck outside of New Orleans. Hargitay, then only three years old, was asleep in the backseat of the vehicle, but escaped uninjured. Days later, she moved in with her father and stepmother, Ellen Siano, a flight attendant. Hargitay participated in scores of activities throughout grade school, including cheerleading, student government, and athletics. She also developed a passion for performing: at 18, after being crowned 1982's Miss Beverly Hills, she enrolled in the University of California at Los Angeles' prestigious undergraduate theater program. Hartigay began her professional acting career while she was still a student with a bit part in Bob Fosse's Dorothy Stratten biopic Star 80 (1983). In 1985, she appeared in the B-movie Ghoulies and agreed to portray a teenage parolee inCBS' short-lived series Downtown. Roles in the teen comedies Welcome to 18 (1986) and Jocks (1987) quickly followed. In 1988, the actress joined her dad in the biopic of his own career, Mr. Universe. That same year, Hargitay earned the recurring role of Carly Fixx on television's Falcon Crest.
The next several years found Hargitay acting in B-movies, such as a martial arts film called The Perfect Weapon (1991), and a handful of television films, such as Blind Side (1993) and Gambler V: Playing for Keeps (1994). She earned a small role in Mike Figgis's Leaving Las Vegas (1995) and replaced Gabrielle Fitzpatrick as Dulcea in Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie (1995), but her scenes were eventually re-shot with Fitzpatrick in the role. Throughout the late '80s and early '90s, Hargitay also appeared in numerous popular television shows -- In the Heat of the Night, Baywatch, Wiseguy, thirtysomething, Booker, Seinfeld, Ellen, The Single Guy -- and in quite a few failed series -- Tequila and Bonetti, Key West, Can't Hurry Love, Prince Street, and Cracker. In 1997, the casting directors of NBC's ER hired Hargitay to portray Dr. Mark Greene's (Anthony Edwards) girlfriend, emergency room desk attendant Cynthia Cooper, in a 14-episode arc. She shone in the role, and her likeability landed her a six-figure deal to develop a half-hour sitcom with DreamWorks. In subsequent years, producer Dick Wolf tapped the actress for his Law & Order spin-off, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999). As NYPD Detective Olivia Benson, Hargitay became a familiar and a celebrated face: She earned several award nominations in the show's first year, including Best Actress from the Viewers for Quality Television and Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama Series from the International Press Academy; these accomplishments foreshadowed things to come, for in time, the assignment both gave her a permanent role identification in the public eye and carried her through a myriad of seasons, consistently drawing top ratings from viewers. In fact, for her work on the program, Hargitay received Emmy Award nominations for Outstanding Actress in a Drama Series in 2005, 2006 and 2007. The lengthy run gave Hargitay the chance to effectively develop and evince the growth of a difficult and troubled character - an officer so severely traumatized by her own origins (as the offspring of a rape) that they stood in the way of any longstanding romantic involvement with a man in her private life, and prompted an extreme level of empathy with the victims of sex crimes in the professional realm.
In addition to working in film and television, Hargitay found time for the theater -- appearing on the Los Angeles stage in Salad Days, Women's Work, and Porno -- and read Rochelle Majer Krich's crime story Regrets Only on a mystery-themed audiobook. She also established her own charity, Spirit of the Dolphin, which gives abused children the chance to swim with dolphins in Hawaii. In 2007, Hargitay served as the National Ambassador for Lee National Denim Day to raise money and awareness for breast cancer. In terms of off-camera activity, Hargitay's successful pregnancy at the age of 42 (with her husband, SVU co-star Peter Hermann) made headlines as well. ~ Aubry Anne D'Arminio, All Movie Guide
Hargitay's parents had divorced in May 1963, but a judge later found their Mexican divorce invalid. They had reconciled a few months before Mariska's birth in January 1964 but soon separated again; and in August 1964, the Mexican divorce was ruled legal. A few weeks later, Mansfield married the director Matt Cimber, who had directed her in a 1964 production of the William Inge play Bus Stop.
On June 29, 1967, Jayne Mansfield was killed in an automobile accident on a stretch of U.S. Highway 90 between New Orleans and Slidell, Louisiana. Her boyfriend, Sam Brody, and the driver were also killed. Asleep in the back of the vehicle, Mariska, then three-and-a-half years old, was left with a zig-zag scar on one side of her head. Her brothers, Miklós and Zoltán were also in the car, but escaped with minor injuries. After the death of their mother, the three siblings were raised by their father and his third wife, Ellen Siano.
In 1982, Hargitay was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA,[3] and was fourth runner up at the Miss California USA Pageant in Oxnard. She made her screen debut with a small role in Star 80. Within a few years she had landed recurring roles in the television series Downtown and Falcon Crest, in which she played the character Carly Fixx. She portrayed police officer Angela Garcia in the 1992 series Tequila & Bonetti, and appeared in an episode of the fourth season of Seinfeld. Two years later, Hargitay portrayed Didi Edelstein, the sexy next-door neighbor, in the 1995 sitcomCan't Hurry Love, which starred Nancy McKeon. In 1997, Hargitay played detective Nina Echeverria on the drama series Prince Street, and had a recurring role as Cynthia Hooper during the fourth season of ER.
Since 1999, Hargitay has portrayed Det. Olivia Benson, the female lead in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. "As a woman, it’s gratifying to play such a multilayered part," she stated on her official website. "Olivia is not only a competent, street-smart cop, she’s also an empathetic woman who can respond emotionally to victims of terrible crimes without compromising her professionalism."[4] As a result of her casting, Hargitay was acknowledged as the "highest paid TV actress" working today in the Guinness Book of World Records 2008 Edition.
Personal life
Mariska in May 2007
Hargitay is a polyglot and speaks Hungarian, French, Spanish and Italian as well as English.[5] On August 28, 2004, in Santa Barbara, California, she married Peter Hermann, an actor and writer who has often appeared on SVU as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan.[6] On June 28, 2006, Hargitay gave birth to August Miklos Friedrich Hermann, by caesarean section. During the last months of her pregnancy, she took maternity leave from SVU, and was temporarily replaced by Connie Nielsen. She appeared with her baby, August, in a Got Milk? ad in January 2007.[7] Hargitay is also the Godmother of her "Law and Order: Special Victims Unit" co-star Christopher Meloni's daughter Sophia.[8][9][10][11]
Upon winning her Emmy on August 27, 2006, Hargitay made a point of thanking her father for everything he had done for her in her life. Just 17 days later, on September 14, 2006, her father died from multiple myeloma in Los Angeles, California, aged 80.
In late December 2008, she suffered a partially collapsed lung after taking a fall during a stunt on the set of Law & Order. She underwent surgery in January and returned to work shortly after.[12] On March 3, 2009, Hargitay was hospitalized after suffering chest pains related to the injury. It was disclosed that she would probably need more surgery.[13] However, she missed only one episode of season 10 of SVU. [14] She has begun working on the 11th season of SVU, which aired Wednesday, September 23rd.
Philanthropy
Hargitay is founder and president of the Joyful Heart Foundation,[15] an organization that was set up in 2004 to provide support to women who have been sexually assaulted.
Hargitay has also worked with the Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention program; NBC's “The More You Know” campaign; Safe Horizon; Santa Monica Rape Crisis Treatment Center; Project ALS; Girl Scouts of the USA; and the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness. She has been an honorary board member of the Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation.[16]
