Mariska Hargitay

Law and Order: SVU actress, Mariska Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964, in Santa Monica, Calif. In June 1967, Hargitay and her brothers were involved in a fatal car accident, which killed their mother. The children escaped with only minor injuries.

She went on to schooling and eventually attended UCLA with a major in theatre. Hargitay dropped out before graduating to start her acting career. Her first motion picture feature was Ghoulies in 1985. She had many roles in some TV shows and movies but had her breakthrough in 1999 when she got the role as Detective Olivia Benson on Law and Order: SVU.

Hargitay has won an Emmy and a Golden Globe for her performance as the detective.

The actress speaks English, Hungarian, French and Italian. She married actor Peter Hermann on August 28, 2004. The couple, along with son, August (born in 2006), divide their time between New York and Los Angeles. Hargitay adopted a daughter, Amaya, in April 2011. Months later, the family adopted a son named Andrew.