Overview
Mariska Hargitay
Known For
Winona Ryder: The Ghosts She Called
A portrait of the actress Winona Ryder, the great muse...
30 Rock: A One-Time Special
In a one-time special event featuring all the beloved characters...
The Paley Center Salutes Law & Order: SVU
Go back to the beginning of television's longest-running primetime drama...
Taylor Swift: The 1989 World Tour - Live
Filmed in front of 76,000 fans at the ANZ Stadium...
'The Office' Skit from the Emmys
Dunder Mifflin employees explain why they hate their jobs —...
Biography
Mariska Hargitay (born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, producer, director and activist, best known for her role as New York City sex crimes Detective Olivia Benson on on the NBC television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role that has earned her multiple awards and nominations, including an Emmy and Golden Globe. The daughter of actress Jayne Mansfield and actor/bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, Hargitay is a former beauty queen who made her film debut in the 1985 horror-comedy film Ghoulies, and her major television debut in the 1986 adventure drama series, Downtown. She appeared in numerous roles in film and television shows throughout the late 1980s and 1990s before being cast as Olivia Benson, a role that led to her founding the Joyful Heart Foundation, which provides support to women who have been sexually abused.