Mariska Magdolina Hargitay (born January 23, 1964) is an
American actress, best known for her role as
Detective Olivia Benson on the
television program Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Hargitay is a winner of a
Golden Globe Award and an
Emmy Award.
Biography
Early life
Hargitay was born at
St. John's Hospital in
Santa Monica, California, the daughter of
Jayne Mansfield, an actress and 1950s-era
sex symbol, and Hungarian-born former
Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay. Her first and middle names are Hungarian and refer to
Mary Magdalene (Mariska is a
diminutive of Maria). Her
family name means "of
Hargita". Hargitay has two half-sisters,
Jayne Marie Mansfield and Tina Hargitay; two brothers, Miklós and Zoltán Hargitay; and a half-brother, Antonio Ottaviano (a.k.a. Tony Cimber), a former director whose works include the female wrestling show
Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
