Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (pron-enm??r??k? ?h?r??te? respellm?RISHk? respellHARgi-tay; born January 23, 1964) is an American actress. She is the daughter of the late actor and professional bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay and late actress Jayne Mansfield. After winning the Miss Beverly Hills 1982 beauty pageant, she went on to study theater at the University of California and started acting at the age 20 with her film debut in the 1985 horror-comedy film Ghoulies. She made her first major television debut in season seven and eight of the soap opera Falcon Crest (1987) and appeared mostly in television shows throughout the late 1980s and most of the 90s, in small roles and guest appearances.

In 1999 she was cast as Olivia Benson, a New York City detective who investigates sex crimes on the NBC television drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, a role that has earned her multiple award nominations (#Awards and nominations) and an Emmy and Golden Globe since the shows debut. She met her future husband Peter Hermann, who played Defense Attorney Trevor Langan on SVU. They were married in 2004, the same year she established an organization that provides support to women who have been sexually abused (sexual abuse) called the Joyful Heart Foundation and also volunteers as a rape crisis counselor.