Post by Trublu on Jan 29, 2006 13:01:57 GMT -5
Mariska Magdolina Hargitay was born January 23, 1964, in Los Angeles, California. The youngest daughter of legendary actress and sexual icon of the '50s and '60s, Jayne Mansfield (née Vera Jane Palmer), and former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay, Mariska is no stranger to the spotlight, or to beauty.
Mariska has little recollection of her blonde bombshell mother who was killed in a car accident when Mariska was a mere 3 years old, and actually in the backseat of the car. And despite her acting roots and famous parents, Mariska did not always intend on being an actress.
pompoms, gavel and curtains
While a student at high school, Mariska was involved in cheerleading, student government and athletics, and randomly became involved in theater, as a way to broaden her horizons as a student. Incidentally, she enjoyed acting, and went off to study at UCLA's theater arts department.
By the time she was a college student, 1982's Miss Beverly Hills already had an agent and several small roles to her credit.
Mariska first appeared in the 1985 film Ghoulies, followed by roles in Welcome to 18, Jocks, and she was a one-season regular on the series Falcon Crest. Mariska co-starred with her dad in the 1988 Hungarian film Mr. Universe before roles in The Perfect Weapon, Hard Time Romance and Bank Robber.
Despite appearances on TV shows like Baywatch, Wiseguy, Seinfeld, Booker, The Single Guy, and Ellen, and supporting roles in 1992's Tequila and Bonetti, 1993's Key West and David Lynch's Hotel Room, and 1995's Can't Hurry Love (for which she dyed her hair blonde), Mariska could not find a successful series to showcase her talent, as they were all short-lived.
yes, doctor
That was all about to change once she was cast as Cynthia Hooper, the scatterbrained single mother who won Dr. Mark Greene's heart on the critically acclaimed, ER. It took the 1997-1998 season for audiences to fall for the beautiful and adorable Mariska, and DreamWorks was just as impressed.
After a small yet memorable role in Leaving Las Vegas (which features Mariska as a prostitute opposite Nicolas Cage), larger roles in small television series like 1997's Prince Street and Cracker, as well as the made-for-TV movies Night Sins and The Advocate's Devil, Mariska was finally rewarded with a lead role in the hit NBC crime drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
handcuff us anytime
In her first season on Law & Order: SVU, Mariska was nominated for a Best Actress Award by the Viewers for Quality Television, Favorite Actress in a New Series by the TV Guide Awards, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama Series by the International Press Academy.
Mariska has been portraying Detective Olivia Benson since 1999, which doesn't mean she didn't venture off into film; she appeared in 1999's Lake Placid, alongside Bridget Fonda and Bill Pullman, and will appear in the 2001 film, Perfume, which stars Carmen Electra.
Mariska's talent was also displayed on stage, when she co-starred in the Los Angeles theater productions of Salad Days, Women's Work and Porno.
In addition to English, this acting beauty speaks Hungarian, French and Italian, and divides her time between LA and New York City, and has been with Lance Young, an executive, since the early 1990s.
What else do you need to know?
www.askmen.com/women/actress_100/103c_mariska_hargitay.html
Mariska has little recollection of her blonde bombshell mother who was killed in a car accident when Mariska was a mere 3 years old, and actually in the backseat of the car. And despite her acting roots and famous parents, Mariska did not always intend on being an actress.
pompoms, gavel and curtains
While a student at high school, Mariska was involved in cheerleading, student government and athletics, and randomly became involved in theater, as a way to broaden her horizons as a student. Incidentally, she enjoyed acting, and went off to study at UCLA's theater arts department.
By the time she was a college student, 1982's Miss Beverly Hills already had an agent and several small roles to her credit.
Mariska first appeared in the 1985 film Ghoulies, followed by roles in Welcome to 18, Jocks, and she was a one-season regular on the series Falcon Crest. Mariska co-starred with her dad in the 1988 Hungarian film Mr. Universe before roles in The Perfect Weapon, Hard Time Romance and Bank Robber.
Despite appearances on TV shows like Baywatch, Wiseguy, Seinfeld, Booker, The Single Guy, and Ellen, and supporting roles in 1992's Tequila and Bonetti, 1993's Key West and David Lynch's Hotel Room, and 1995's Can't Hurry Love (for which she dyed her hair blonde), Mariska could not find a successful series to showcase her talent, as they were all short-lived.
yes, doctor
That was all about to change once she was cast as Cynthia Hooper, the scatterbrained single mother who won Dr. Mark Greene's heart on the critically acclaimed, ER. It took the 1997-1998 season for audiences to fall for the beautiful and adorable Mariska, and DreamWorks was just as impressed.
After a small yet memorable role in Leaving Las Vegas (which features Mariska as a prostitute opposite Nicolas Cage), larger roles in small television series like 1997's Prince Street and Cracker, as well as the made-for-TV movies Night Sins and The Advocate's Devil, Mariska was finally rewarded with a lead role in the hit NBC crime drama, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.
handcuff us anytime
In her first season on Law & Order: SVU, Mariska was nominated for a Best Actress Award by the Viewers for Quality Television, Favorite Actress in a New Series by the TV Guide Awards, and Best Performance by an Actress in a Drama Series by the International Press Academy.
Mariska has been portraying Detective Olivia Benson since 1999, which doesn't mean she didn't venture off into film; she appeared in 1999's Lake Placid, alongside Bridget Fonda and Bill Pullman, and will appear in the 2001 film, Perfume, which stars Carmen Electra.
Mariska's talent was also displayed on stage, when she co-starred in the Los Angeles theater productions of Salad Days, Women's Work and Porno.
In addition to English, this acting beauty speaks Hungarian, French and Italian, and divides her time between LA and New York City, and has been with Lance Young, an executive, since the early 1990s.
What else do you need to know?
www.askmen.com/women/actress_100/103c_mariska_hargitay.html