Mariska Hargitay

This is the 132nd post in our Celebrity of the Day series.



Mariska Hargitay was born in 1964 in California. She was active in theater in her highschool and went on to attend UCLA School of Theater Film and Television.

In 1982 she was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA and was fourth runner up in the Miss California USA pageant.

She made her screen debut in 1985 with the role of Donna in the movie Ghoulies. The following year she was cast in a recurring on the television series Downtown as Jesse Smith.

In 1988 she got another recurring role this time in the television series Falcon Crest as Carly Fixx. She continued to take roles in movies and television shows but she did not get another major role until 1992 when she was cast as Officer Angela Garcia in Tequila and Bonetti.

In 1997 she was cast in a recurring role in ER as Cynthia Hooper.

But her big break came in 1999 when she was cast as Det. Olivia Benson in the series Law & Order: SVU. She has been playing the role ever since and will continue to play the role for the upcoming 11th season. She is married to Peter Hermann who sometimes appears on the show as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan.

In June of 2006 she gave birth to her daughter and took maternity leave from SVU, during which time she was temporarily replaced by Connie Nielson. In August of 2006 she was awarded an Emmy for her portrayal of Olivia Benson.

In 2008 she was credited by the Guiness Book of World Records as the highest paid television actress. That same year she was rushed to the hospital with a partially collapsed lung. She had surgery and soon returned to work after only missing one episode.

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