01:49 PM EDT 04/10/2012
Mariska Hargitay
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Mariska Hargitay, Hilary Swank Celebrate Mardi Gras in New Orleans
Originally posted 02/22/2012 11:10AM
Forget about Law & Order – stars like Mariska Hargitay and Hilary Swank got into the Mardi Gras spirit this week in New Orleans, participating in the festival's traditional Krewe of Orpheus parade on Monday.
Decked out in bright, sparkling attire atop a decorated float, the actresses tossed beads and doubloons to the crowd gathered along the parade route.
Singer Bret Michaels, donning a bandana and sunglasses, also rode in the procession and tossed out beads to the throng of spectators.
The Poison frontman posted pictures of himself with both actresses on his Twitter feed. – Liz Raftery
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Mariska Hargitay and Daughter Dress Up for Halloween
Originally posted 10/24/2011 07:45AM
They're in the Halloween spirit!
New mom Mariska Harigtay donned a witch's costume with her little pumpkin, 6-month-old daughter Amaya Josephine, for Saturday's Light Up a Life benefit on behalf of New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Phyllis and David Komansky Center for Children's Health.
More than 900 children and their families attended the event, for which Hargitay, 47, and her husband, Peter Hermann, served as honorary chairpersons.
The couple recently adopted a son, Andrew Nicolas, just six months after bringing home their little girl.
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Law & Order: SVU's Revised Cast
Originally posted 09/16/2011 10:45AM
After 12 years on NBC, major upheavals are afoot for Law & Order: SVU.
First came word that Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay, who welcomed baby Amaya in March, would be scaling back on the job. Then, reports hit the Internet that Jennifer Love Hewitt would be stepping into the lead role.
Only SVU's executive producer and showrunner, Warren Leight, says "all of that changed" when longtime cast member Chris Meloni departed the show.
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Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
Mariska Hargitay Will Miss Chris Meloni Terribly
Originally posted 05/28/2011 08:45AM
One of TV's longest-running – and hottest-looking – couples are to be no more.
This week brought the official announcement from NBC that Christopher Meloni, who has played Detective Stabler on Law & Order: SVU since the series began in 1999, will not be back for a 13th season this fall. Contract talks reportedly broke down.
That leaves his costar, Mariska Hargitay, partner-less. But the week also brought the unsettling news that the actress will be not be appearing in all of next season's episodes.
Regarding the departure of her costar, Hargitay – who plays Detective Olivia Benson – said in a statement released late Friday:
"For the past 12 years Chris Meloni has been my partner and friend, both on screen and off. He inspired me every day with his integrity, his extraordinary talent and his commitment to the truth. I love him deeply and will miss him terribly – I'm so excited to see what he'll do next."
– Stephen M. Silverman
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Mariska Hargitay: Naming Our Baby Was a Family Decision
Originally posted 04/07/2011 12:00PM
When it came time for Mariska Hargitay and husband Peter Hermann to choose a name for their 1-week-old daughter, the entire family got involved.
"We all talked about names because everything is a family decision in our house," says Hargitay.
That meant also consulting her 4½-year-old son, August, for ideas. "I threw out my name and he threw out his name and I said, 'August, why do you get to name the baby?' And he said, 'Because it's my idea!' " the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 47, says with a laugh.
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Mariska Hargitay Adopts a Baby
Originally posted 04/06/2011 08:00PM
Mariska Hargitay has a big surprise to share.
The Law & Order: SVU star and her husband, actor Peter Hermann, have adopted a baby girl, she tells PEOPLE exclusively.
Baby Amaya Josephine was born about a week ago and is from the United States.
"I'm deliriously happy," Hargitay, 47, tells PEOPLE. "From the minute she was born, she was just surprisingly alert and so full of love."
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Mariska Hargitay: New Time Slot Hurt SVU's Ratings
Originally posted 01/19/2010 01:45PM
After battling all manner of adversity – losing her mother at 3 years old, struggling with mountains of debt as a young woman – Mariska Hargitay felt blessed to find success on NBC's Law & Order: SVU. Which is why she's peeved that the show had to suffer to make room for Jay Leno's low-rated prime-time program.
Being moved to 9 p.m. "ruined our numbers," the actress tells More magazine in its February issue. "Nobody knew when the show was on. Finally, we're starting to find our audience again."
She adds: "I hope we go back to where we belong. It was doing so well. Why mess with it?"
Hargitay, who turns 46 on Saturday, also touches on her personal life, from her family (she married actor Peter Hermann in 2004, and they have a 3-year-old son, August) to her self-image and financial worries.
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Mariska Hargitay Recalls Being 'So Scared' over Collapsed Lung
Originally posted 07/09/2009 03:00PM
The collapsed lung that sent Mariska Hargitay from the set of Law & Order: SVU to the hospital last October involved emotional as well as physical wounds the 45-year-old carries from childhood.
In 1967, at age 3, Hargitay was asleep in the backseat of a car that crashed and killed her 34-year-old mother, '50s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield. "Losing my mother at such an early age is the scar of my soul," Hargitay, speaking for the first time in detail about her injuries, tells the August issue of Redbook. "But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today."
What Hargitay remembers of her recent injury was landing wrong while "doing a stunt chasing a bad guy." The moment she hit the crash pad, she sensed something was wrong. "At first I thought I had the wind knocked out of me."
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Hargitay, Meloni Back For More Law & Order
Originally posted 06/29/2009 06:00PM
After months of reportedly tense contract negotiations, Emmy winner Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni – stars of Law & Order: SVU – have agreed to return to the popular NBC crime drama for another season, a rep for the show tells PEOPLE.
The agreement means that starting in the fall, SVU will begin its 11th season with Hargitay and Meloni as stars. While terms of the deal have not been disclosed, both stars were reportedly earning $385,000 per episode before a new deal was struck.
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Mariska Hargitay's Health Mystery Revealed
Originally posted 05/19/2009 07:00AM
Since January, when her rep announced Mariska Hargitay had suffered a partially collapsed lung, information about the nature of the Law & Order: SVU's star condition has been scant, until now.
During a dinner in Manhattan for the American Ballet Theater on Monday, Hargitay, 45, told PEOPLE: "I've been doing my own stunts on the show for 10 years. I fell wrong, basically. I collapsed my lung doing a stunt."
Hargitay underwent surgery in January, then returned to work on her NBC series soon after – only to check back into the hospital on March 3, at which time her rep said: "She is undergoing routine tests and expects to be feeling better soon."
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