Mariska Hargitay Biography and Profile

Biography

Nama : Mariska Hargitay
Birth Name : Mariska Magdolina Hargitay
Birth Date : 01/23/1964
Birth Place : Los Angeles, California, USA
Height : 5' 7�"
Sex : F
Nationality : American
Occupation : Actress
Father : Mickey Hargitay
Mother : Jayne Mansfield
Spouse : Peter Hermann (since 28-Aug-04)
Claim Fame : As Detective Olivia Benson in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" (since 1999)

Mariska Magdolina Hargitay (also know as Marishka Hargitay) (b. January 23, 1964 in Los Angeles, California) is an American actress best known for her role as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

She is the fourth of Jayne Mansfield's five children. Mansfield had divorced Hungarian-born former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay (and would again in 1964), yet they were living together when Mariska was born. While actor Nelson Sardelli claims to have fathered her (her dark features in contrast to those of the sons Mansfield and Hargitay had would seem to support this), Hargitay, apparently, never questioned the child's paternity and raised her as his own.

On the night of June 29, 1967, Mariska and two of her brothers were asleep in the back seat of the car their mother and her boyfriend, lawyer Sam Brody, were riding in when it smashed into the back of a tractor-trailer. Mansfield, Brody, and their driver were killed instantly. Had the children not been lying down, they, too, would have been killed. But, miraculously, they escaped with minor bruises. Mariska, who has no memory of the accident, was left with a zig-zag scar down the side of her head.

Hargitay majored in theatre at UCLA and began her acting career by appearing on the television series, Falcon Crest in 1987. She learned her father's native language, Hungarian, but also speaks fluent French, English, and Italian.

In April 2004, she announced her engagement to Special Victims Unit actor Peter Hermann. They were married on August 28, 2004 in California.

Mariska won a Golden Globe this year in the category of Best Actress in a Drama Series. Her father and husband both attended the ceremony.