Mariska Hargitay

Mariska Magdolna Hargitay was born January 23, 1964, in Santa Monica, California, to actor Jayne Mansfield and former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay. Her mother, a major Hollywood star of the 1950s and 1960s, died in a car crash in 1967. Mariska survived because she was asleep in the back seat; she later underwent reconstructive surgery after a childhood injury related to the accident.

Hargitay studied theater at UCLA and began acting in the mid-1980s. Her early screen credits included the horror film Ghoulies (1985), the comedy Mannequin (1987), and television appearances on Falcon Crest, ER, Seinfeld, and Ellen. She also appeared in the 1988 action film Dead Heat with Treat Williams and Joe Piscopo. Before her best-known role, she was a regular on the 1997–98 medical drama ER as Cynthia Hooper.

In 1999, Hargitay was cast as Detective Olivia Benson in NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Benson investigates sex crimes, child abuse, and domestic-violence cases with the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit. The role became the center of Hargitay’s public work against sexual violence, and she has remained with the series through its twenty-sixth season.

For her performance, Hargitay won the 2005 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in a Television Series Drama and the 2006 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series. In 2013, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, placed beside Mansfield’s star.

Hargitay founded the Joyful Heart Foundation in 2004, following contact with survivors who wrote to her after watching SVU. The organization supports survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, and has advocated for ending the rape-kit backlog. She served as an executive producer of the 2017 HBO documentary I Am Evidence, which examines untested rape kits and the experiences of survivors.

In 2004, she married actor Peter Hermann, whom she met when he guest-starred on SVU. They have three children: son August, born in 2006, and adopted daughter Amaya and son Andrew, both welcomed in 2011. Her work on SVU has made Benson one of network television’s longest-running dramatic characters. Hargitay became an executive producer of the series during its run and directed several episodes, including “Sheltered Outcasts” in 2014. She has used appearances to connect the fictional investigator’s work with survivor-centered advocacy. Her career joins popular television, award-winning acting, and sustained institutional work on sexual-violence awareness and response.