Even before she was Olivia Benson, Mariska Hargitay was part of show business.
Hargitay’s Hollywood history includes her famously beautiful mother, Jayne Mansfield — tragically killed in a car crash that the Law & Order: SVU star survived — and her father, actor Mickey Hargitay, who died in 2006 at age 80. Mickey’s final acting role was three years before his death, and it was a co-star role on SVU with his daughter.
In her own love life, Hargitay found lasting love with fellow actor and frequent SVU co-star Peter Hermann. The pair started dating in 2002, wed in August 2004, and are still going strong. Her husband and their three children have been with her every step of her career.
Here, we look back over the years of Hargitay’s family life in photos.
This is an excerpt from TV Guide Magazine’s Law & Order: SVU 25th Anniversary issue. For more inside scoop on the long-running NBC franchise, pick up a copy of the issue available on newsstands and for order online at LawAndOrderMagazine.com.