January 23rd, 2008 - Happy Birthday Mariska Hargitay!

Hargitay, the fourth of five children, 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 has Hungarian references too. It means: “of Hargita”. She has two half-sisters, Jayne Marie Mansfield and Tina Hargitay; two brothers, Miklós and Zoltan Hargitay; and a half-brother, Antonio Ottaviano (a.k.a. Tony Cimber), a former film director whose works include the female wrestling show G.L.O.W.

Hargitay’s parents had divorced in May 1963, but a judge later found their Mexican divorce invalid. They had reconciled a few months before Mariska’s birth in January 1964 but soon separated again; and in August 1964, the Mexican divorce was ruled legal. A few weeks later, Mansfield married the director Matt Cimber, who had directed her in a 1964 production of the William Inge play Bus Stop.

On June 29, 1967, Jayne Mansfield was killed in an automobile accident on a stretch of U.S. Highway 90 between New Orleans and Slidell, Louisiana. Jayne’s boyfriend Sam Brody and the driver were also killed. Asleep in the back of the car, Mariska, then three-and-a-half years old, was left with a zig-zag scar on one side of her head. Mariska’s brothers Miklós and Zoltan were also in the car, but they escaped with minor injuries. After the death of their mother, the three siblings were raised by Mickey Hargitay and his third wife, Ellen Siano.

Mariska Hargitay was active in the theater program of her secondary school Marymount High School; she graduated in 1987 from the UCLA School of Theater Film and Television with a major in theater.

Since 1999, Hargitay has portrayed Det. Olivia Benson, the female lead on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. “As a woman, it’s gratifying to play such a multilayered part,” the actress stated on her official website. “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.” As a result of her casting, Hargitay has been named the “highest paid tv actress” working today in the Guinness Book of World Records 2008 Edition.

Hargitay speaks Hungarian, French, Italian and English. On August 28, 2004, in Santa Barbara, California, she married Peter Hermann, an actor and writer who has often appeared on SVU as Defense Attorney Trevor Langan.

On June 28, 2006, Hargitay gave birth to August Miklos Friedrich Hermann, by caesarean section. During the last months of her pregnancy, Hargitay took a maternity leave from SVU and was temporarily replaced by Connie Nielsen.

Hargitay launched her clothing line XO,M on her official website Mariska.com, in October, 2007.

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