Mariska Hargitay is an American actress and filmmaker who started her professional career by performing small roles in a string of music videos and TV episodes. She appeared for the first time on the big screen in the 1985 horror-comedy flick, ’Ghoulies’. Thereafter she starred in run-off-the-mill movies including ‘Welcome to 18’, and ‘Hard Time Romance’.
Mariska’s small screen career has more prolific compared to her silver screen calling. She made her mark on the television by performing in ‘Falcon Crest’, a soap opera, ‘Downtown’, ‘Tequila and Bonetti’, and ‘Can’t Hurry Love’. She reprised her roles in ‘Falcon Crest’, and ‘ER’ and guest starred in several other TV episodes and programs like, ‘Baywatch’, Freddy’s Nightmares’, ‘Cracker’ and ‘In the Heat of the Night’. Her best claim to fame is her portrayal of detective Olivia Benson in ‘Law & Order: Special Victim Unit’, arguably one of her best roles.Â
Â