"I’m an L.A. girl who became a tough New York cop." Talking about 'Law and Order: SVU'. mariska
Saturday, January 27, 2007
"Being sexy is just one part of being a woman and an actress. But if the part calls for sexy…" Mariska Hargitay.
Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actress Mariska Hargitay is widely recognized while playing Detective Olivia Benson in NBC's spin-off drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (a.k.a. “SVU”; 1999 - present). The daughter of the '50s and '60s screen siren Jayne Mansfield and Hungarian bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay has also appeared in a recurring role on "ER" and in the films Leaving Las Vegas (1995) and Lake Placid (1999).
5' 7" tall, German/English & Hungarian descendant Hargitay, who has 36-24-36 measurements, won the Miss Beverly Hills pageant in 1982. She was named by People magazine as one of their “50 Most Beautiful People” in 2005 and “World's Most Beautiful People” in 2006. Before her marriage with actor Peter Hermann, Hargitay was romantically linked to executive Lance Young in 1990.
Icon’s Daughter
Childhood and Family:
The youngest daughter of legendary actress and sexual icon of the '50s and '60s Jayne Mansfield (a.k.a. Vera Jane Palmer; born on April 19, 1933; died in 1967 because of road accident) and Hungarian-born former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay (was also a body builder and actor; born on January 6, 1926), Mariska Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964 in Los Angeles, California. Italian-American cabaret performer Nelson Sardelli, who was dating her mother at the time of her conception, has claimed to be her biological father, which Mariska has never acknowledged. Mariska has two older brothers: Zoltan Hargitay (born on August 1, 1960) and Mickey Hargitay (born on December 21, 1958). Her parents married on January 13, 1958 but divorced on August 26, 1964. Her mother then married director Matt Cimber (born in 1936) on September 24, 1964, and Mariska then have a half younger brother, Antonio Raphael Ottaviano Cimber (born on October 18, 1965). She also has a half older sister, Jayne Marie Mansfield (actress; born on November 8, 1950), from her mother's first marriage.
On June 29, 1967, 3-year-old Mariska and her two brothers, Zoltan and Mickey Jr., were asleep in the back seat of a car when it crashed into the back of a trailer truck instantly killing her mother, the driver and her mother’s boyfriend, attorney Sam Brody. Miraculously, Mariska and her brothers escaped with minor injuries. The accident left Mariska with a zigzag scar down the side of her head.
During her high school years, Mariska was involved in cheerleading, student government, athletics and theater. She then went off to study theater at UCLA School of Theater Film and Television and graduated in 1987. Mariska, who speaks English, Hungarian, French and Italian, is also an alumna of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
"It's my first marriage. I wanted to find out where I was going before I found out who was going with me." Mariska Hargitay (on her marriage to Peter Hermann).
In April 2004, Mariska announced her engagement to “Special Victims Unit” actor Peter Hermann (born on August 15, 1967). They were married on August 28, 2004, at California's Unitarian Historical Chapel. The couple's wedding was in Santa Barbara in front of 200 guests. On June 28, 2006, Mariska and Peter welcomed their first child together, a son named August. They now divide their time between New York and Los Angeles.
Mariska, a certified rape crisis counselor, is the founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization which aids the victims of rape to swim with wild dolphins in Hawaiian waters as therapy. She also has worked with the Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention program, NBC's “The More You Know” campaign, the Safe Horizons advocacy project, Santa Monica Rape Crisis Treatment Center, Project ALS, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness.
In The Show
Career:
"As an actress, there were so many months, years even, when I didn't get work, when I wanted to quit." Mariska Hargitay (about starting out as an actress).
Inheriting the beauty of her screen icon mother, Mariska Hargitay won the title of Miss Beverly Hills in 1982 and made her screen debut in the next year with a small part in director Bob Fosse's biopic Star 80 (starring Mariel Hemingway), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Village Voice article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter. After appearing in Luca Bercovici's Gremlins-like horror-comedy film Ghoulies (1985), Hargitay had a solid role as one of a trio of young women working for a wacky dude ranch for the summer, in Terry Carr's sex comedy Welcome to 18 (1986; alongside Courtney Thorne-Smith).
In 1986, Hargitay landed on her first regular role in TV series on CBS’ cop drama "Downtown." She then played a role in Steve Carver's tennis comedy Jocks (1987) and joined her father in the Hungarian-made Mr. Universe (1988). She also played a recurring role, as Carly Fixx, on the CBS primetime soap "Falcon Crest." Meanwhile, Hargitay was spotted as guest in shows like the syndicated late-night anthology series "Freddy's Nightmares," the popular lifeguard show "Baywatch," the crime drama "Wiseguy," the ground-breaking and award-winning drama "thirtysomething," a spin-off of 21 Jump Street "Booker" and ABC's short-lived show "Gabriel's Fire."
On the wide screen, Hargitay could be seen in writer-director John Lee Hancock's romantic comedy Hard Time Romance (with Leon Rippy and Tom Everett), Mark DiSalle's kenpo vengeance saga The Perfect Weapon (starring Jeff Speakman) and the Japanese-made Sutoroberi rodo (a.k.a. Strawberry Road; all three in 1991). She also returned to TV series playing a police officer in the short-lived CBS’ 1992 series “Tequila and Bonetti,” and guest starred on an episode of "Grapevine," "Hotel Room," "Key West," NBC’s popular sitcom “Seinfeld,” playing one of the actors auditioning for Jerry, and ABC’s sitcom "All American Girl."
After appearing in writer-director Nick Mead's comedy Bank Robber (1993; with Patrick Dempsey and Lisa Bonet), Hargitay could be seen playing a hooker at a bar who tangles with Nicolas Cage in Mike Figgis' adaptation of a semiautobiographical novel by John O'Brien, Leaving Las Vegas (1995; also starring Elisabeth Shue). That same year, Hargitay displayed her considerable comedic chops as Nancy McKeon's sexy next-door neighbor Didi Edelstein in the CBS short-lived sitcom “Can't Hurry Love.”
Hargitay continued to make guest star appearances in shows like "Ellen," "The Single Guy," was a regular on the short-lived NBC drama "Prince Street" and appeared in the pilot for the ABC series "Cracker." She later gained wide recognition when she joined the cast members of the NBC popular medical drama "ER," playing the recurring role of Cynthia Hooper (1997-1998), an erratic single mother and desk clerk who falls for Anthony Edwards' Dr Mark Greene. She also shared the screen with Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda in Steve Miner's 1999 comedy/horror film Lake Placid.
"As a woman, it's gratifying to play a part that's a multi-layered challenge. Olivia is not only a competent, street-smart cop, she's an empathetic woman who can respond emotionally to victims of terrible crimes without compromising her professionalism." Mariska Hargitay (on her role as Detective Olivia Benson in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit").
In 1999, Hargitay landed on her most prominent role to date, as the special victims unit’s veteran Detective Olivia Benson, a policewoman specializing in sex crimes, on the NBC drama spin-off "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (a.k.a. “SVU”). Hargitay’s brilliant turn in the long-running series won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama in 2005 and an Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2006, becoming the first woman ever from the “Law & Order” franchise to receive award nominations and wins.
In a part of her 2005 Golden Globe acceptance speech, Hargitay said: "50 years ago, my mother stood on this stage accepting this award. She was fortunate enough to have my Dad with her. 50 years later, I'm fortunate enough to have my Dad with me. I love you Dad."
"SVU," the highest rated series of the "Law & Order" franchise, has been renewed for an 8th season.
"Everything has combined to make my life in New York an amazing experience. I told my manager a few years ago that I wanted to move here and try acting in the Theatre. Then this show came up. Now I'm in this show that means something to me and a lot of other people."
Awards:
Emmy: Best Actress in a Drama Series, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 2006
Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 2005
Golden Globe and Emmy Award-winning actress Mariska Hargitay is widely recognized while playing Detective Olivia Benson in NBC's spin-off drama “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (a.k.a. “SVU”; 1999 - present). The daughter of the '50s and '60s screen siren Jayne Mansfield and Hungarian bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay has also appeared in a recurring role on "ER" and in the films Leaving Las Vegas (1995) and Lake Placid (1999).
5' 7" tall, German/English & Hungarian descendant Hargitay, who has 36-24-36 measurements, won the Miss Beverly Hills pageant in 1982. She was named by People magazine as one of their “50 Most Beautiful People” in 2005 and “World's Most Beautiful People” in 2006. Before her marriage with actor Peter Hermann, Hargitay was romantically linked to executive Lance Young in 1990.
Icon’s Daughter
Childhood and Family:
The youngest daughter of legendary actress and sexual icon of the '50s and '60s Jayne Mansfield (a.k.a. Vera Jane Palmer; born on April 19, 1933; died in 1967 because of road accident) and Hungarian-born former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay (was also a body builder and actor; born on January 6, 1926), Mariska Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964 in Los Angeles, California. Italian-American cabaret performer Nelson Sardelli, who was dating her mother at the time of her conception, has claimed to be her biological father, which Mariska has never acknowledged. Mariska has two older brothers: Zoltan Hargitay (born on August 1, 1960) and Mickey Hargitay (born on December 21, 1958). Her parents married on January 13, 1958 but divorced on August 26, 1964. Her mother then married director Matt Cimber (born in 1936) on September 24, 1964, and Mariska then have a half younger brother, Antonio Raphael Ottaviano Cimber (born on October 18, 1965). She also has a half older sister, Jayne Marie Mansfield (actress; born on November 8, 1950), from her mother's first marriage.
On June 29, 1967, 3-year-old Mariska and her two brothers, Zoltan and Mickey Jr., were asleep in the back seat of a car when it crashed into the back of a trailer truck instantly killing her mother, the driver and her mother’s boyfriend, attorney Sam Brody. Miraculously, Mariska and her brothers escaped with minor injuries. The accident left Mariska with a zigzag scar down the side of her head.
During her high school years, Mariska was involved in cheerleading, student government, athletics and theater. She then went off to study theater at UCLA School of Theater Film and Television and graduated in 1987. Mariska, who speaks English, Hungarian, French and Italian, is also an alumna of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority.
"It's my first marriage. I wanted to find out where I was going before I found out who was going with me." Mariska Hargitay (on her marriage to Peter Hermann).
In April 2004, Mariska announced her engagement to “Special Victims Unit” actor Peter Hermann (born on August 15, 1967). They were married on August 28, 2004, at California's Unitarian Historical Chapel. The couple's wedding was in Santa Barbara in front of 200 guests. On June 28, 2006, Mariska and Peter welcomed their first child together, a son named August. They now divide their time between New York and Los Angeles.
Mariska, a certified rape crisis counselor, is the founder of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a non-profit organization which aids the victims of rape to swim with wild dolphins in Hawaiian waters as therapy. She also has worked with the Mount Sinai Sexual Assault and Violence Intervention program, NBC's “The More You Know” campaign, the Safe Horizons advocacy project, Santa Monica Rape Crisis Treatment Center, Project ALS, Girl Scouts of the USA, and the James Redford Institute for Transplant Awareness.
In The Show
Career:
"As an actress, there were so many months, years even, when I didn't get work, when I wanted to quit." Mariska Hargitay (about starting out as an actress).
Inheriting the beauty of her screen icon mother, Mariska Hargitay won the title of Miss Beverly Hills in 1982 and made her screen debut in the next year with a small part in director Bob Fosse's biopic Star 80 (starring Mariel Hemingway), based on the Pulitzer Prize-winning Village Voice article "Death of a Playmate" by Teresa Carpenter. After appearing in Luca Bercovici's Gremlins-like horror-comedy film Ghoulies (1985), Hargitay had a solid role as one of a trio of young women working for a wacky dude ranch for the summer, in Terry Carr's sex comedy Welcome to 18 (1986; alongside Courtney Thorne-Smith).
In 1986, Hargitay landed on her first regular role in TV series on CBS’ cop drama "Downtown." She then played a role in Steve Carver's tennis comedy Jocks (1987) and joined her father in the Hungarian-made Mr. Universe (1988). She also played a recurring role, as Carly Fixx, on the CBS primetime soap "Falcon Crest." Meanwhile, Hargitay was spotted as guest in shows like the syndicated late-night anthology series "Freddy's Nightmares," the popular lifeguard show "Baywatch," the crime drama "Wiseguy," the ground-breaking and award-winning drama "thirtysomething," a spin-off of 21 Jump Street "Booker" and ABC's short-lived show "Gabriel's Fire."
On the wide screen, Hargitay could be seen in writer-director John Lee Hancock's romantic comedy Hard Time Romance (with Leon Rippy and Tom Everett), Mark DiSalle's kenpo vengeance saga The Perfect Weapon (starring Jeff Speakman) and the Japanese-made Sutoroberi rodo (a.k.a. Strawberry Road; all three in 1991). She also returned to TV series playing a police officer in the short-lived CBS’ 1992 series “Tequila and Bonetti,” and guest starred on an episode of "Grapevine," "Hotel Room," "Key West," NBC’s popular sitcom “Seinfeld,” playing one of the actors auditioning for Jerry, and ABC’s sitcom "All American Girl."
After appearing in writer-director Nick Mead's comedy Bank Robber (1993; with Patrick Dempsey and Lisa Bonet), Hargitay could be seen playing a hooker at a bar who tangles with Nicolas Cage in Mike Figgis' adaptation of a semiautobiographical novel by John O'Brien, Leaving Las Vegas (1995; also starring Elisabeth Shue). That same year, Hargitay displayed her considerable comedic chops as Nancy McKeon's sexy next-door neighbor Didi Edelstein in the CBS short-lived sitcom “Can't Hurry Love.”
Hargitay continued to make guest star appearances in shows like "Ellen," "The Single Guy," was a regular on the short-lived NBC drama "Prince Street" and appeared in the pilot for the ABC series "Cracker." She later gained wide recognition when she joined the cast members of the NBC popular medical drama "ER," playing the recurring role of Cynthia Hooper (1997-1998), an erratic single mother and desk clerk who falls for Anthony Edwards' Dr Mark Greene. She also shared the screen with Bill Pullman and Bridget Fonda in Steve Miner's 1999 comedy/horror film Lake Placid.
"As a woman, it's gratifying to play a part that's a multi-layered challenge. Olivia is not only a competent, street-smart cop, she's an empathetic woman who can respond emotionally to victims of terrible crimes without compromising her professionalism." Mariska Hargitay (on her role as Detective Olivia Benson in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit").
In 1999, Hargitay landed on her most prominent role to date, as the special victims unit’s veteran Detective Olivia Benson, a policewoman specializing in sex crimes, on the NBC drama spin-off "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (a.k.a. “SVU”). Hargitay’s brilliant turn in the long-running series won her a Golden Globe Award for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama in 2005 and an Emmy Award for Best Actress in a Drama Series in 2006, becoming the first woman ever from the “Law & Order” franchise to receive award nominations and wins.
In a part of her 2005 Golden Globe acceptance speech, Hargitay said: "50 years ago, my mother stood on this stage accepting this award. She was fortunate enough to have my Dad with her. 50 years later, I'm fortunate enough to have my Dad with me. I love you Dad."
"SVU," the highest rated series of the "Law & Order" franchise, has been renewed for an 8th season.
"Everything has combined to make my life in New York an amazing experience. I told my manager a few years ago that I wanted to move here and try acting in the Theatre. Then this show came up. Now I'm in this show that means something to me and a lot of other people."
Awards:
Emmy: Best Actress in a Drama Series, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 2006
Golden Globe: Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series - Drama, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,” 2005
After winning the 2006 Emmy for outstanding actress in a drama series, Mariska Hargitay returns for her eighth season as Olivia Benson, the ambitious and emotionally driven detective on Wolf Films/NBC Universal Television’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. The role also earned her a Golden Globe Award in 2004, two previous Emmy nominations, two SAG Award nominations and a Gracie Allen Award for American Women in Radio and Television. “As a woman, it’s gratifying to play such a multilayered part. 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.” Hargitay is also known to NBC viewers for her recurring role on ER as Dr. Greene’s (Anthony Edwards) girlfriend Cynthia Hooper in the 1997-98 season of the top-rated show. She also gained notice as a cast regular in the sitcom Can’t Hurry Love with Nancy McKeon and Louis Mandylor. Additional television credits include guest roles on NBC’s Seinfeld, Ellen and thirtysomething, and starring roles on Falcon Crest and Prince Street. Hargitay was also seen in the telefilms The Advocate’s Devil and Night Sins, as well as the Lifetime movie Plain Truth. Her film credits include the thriller Lake Placid written by David E. Kelley and starring Bridget Fonda, the critically acclaimed Leaving Las Vegas, David Lynch’s Hotel Room, Bob Fosse’s Star 80, abd Michael Rymer’s Perfume. Born and raised in Los Angeles, Hargitay is the youngest daughter of screen legend Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay. She divides her time between New York and Los Angeles. The UCLA graduate speaks Hungarian, French and Italian. Hargitay is married to actor Peter Hermann, who starred most recently in the Universal/Working Title’s United 93, and who has a recurring role on SVU as attorney Trevor Langan. The couple recently gave birth to their first child, a son, August Miklos Friedrich Hermann. Law & Order: Special Victims Unit is a Wolf Films production in association with NBC Universal Television and airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. ET/PT on NBC. Dick Wolf, Ted Kotcheff, Neal Baer and Peter Jankowski are executive producers; Patrick Harbinson, Arthur Forney, Robert Nathan, Dawn DeNoon, Jonathan Greene and Amanda Green are co-executive producers.
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