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 has Hungarian references also. It means: "of Hargita". Hargitay has two half-sisters, Read more...

In 1982, Hargitay was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA, and was fourth runner up at the Miss California USA Pageant in Oxnard. She made her screen debut with a small role in Star 80. Within a few years she had landed recurring roles in the television series Downtown and Falcon Crest, in which she played the character Carly Fixx. She portrayed police officer Angela Garcia in the 1992 series Tequila Read more...

Hargitay speaks Hungarian, French, Spanish and Italian as well as 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, she took maternity leave Read more...