Christopher Meloni

With rugged looks and an imposing presence, Christopher Meloni frequently found himself cast in tough guy roles, but when given the chance the actor displayed surprising range, particularly in comedy. Meloni broke in via television and eventually began landing bit parts in feature films like "Clean Slate," "Junior" and "12 Monkeys." Meloni all but cemented his stature as a Mafia-type thug with his vicious performance in the sexually-charged thriller "Bound," which was followed by similarly brutish parts in series such as "NYPD Blue" and the miniseries "The Last Don." By the end of the decade, however, Meloni took on two equally intense roles as characters who could not have been more diametrically opposed to each other. On "Oz," Meloni gave a chilling performance as serial killer Chris Keller, and shortly thereafter he joined the cast of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" as Detective Elliot Stabler, a cop who tirelessly pursued perpetrators of the most heinous sexual crimes. As much as he would be known for his dramatically intense performances, Meloni would prove himself capable of delivering huge belly laughs with gut-busting cameos in films such as "Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle." Though he left "SVU" after 12 seasons in 2011, Meloni always found himself in the enviable position of being able to work in both drama and comedy with equal facility.

Born Christopher Peter Meloni on April 2, 1961 in Washington, D.C. to parents Robert, a successful endocrinologist, and Cecile, a proud homemaker, Meloni grew up in the nation's capital prior to attending the University of Colorado. Upon earning his bachelor's degree in history in 1983, he returned to the D.C. area, working in construction for a time, before pursuing acting. Meloni relocated to New York City, where he apprenticed at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse while earning a living as a bouncer at various clubs. During that period he took part in several obscure, off-Broadway productions and managed to land occasional television work, with a small recurring role on the daytime soap "Search for Tomorrow," as well as a brief appearance in an episode of the crime drama "The Equalizer." With a more substantial returning part as ex-con turned quarterback, Johnny Gunn in the 5th season installment of the NFL comedy "1st & 10: Do It Again," Meloni's career began to gain traction. Then Meloni won the role of skirt-chasing man-child Frankie Fanelli, one of the titular brothers in the comedy, "The Fanelli Boys." He followed that series up with a featured role in the TV movie "When Will I Be Loved," a co-starring turn in the miniseries "In a Child's Name," and two seasons of recurring voice work as the wise-cracking Spike for the live-action/puppetry anomaly "Dinosaurs."

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