Elliot Stabler Sr. (); is a
fictional character
In fiction, a character (or speaker, in poetry) is a person or other being in a narrative (such as a novel, play, radio or television series, music, film, or video game). The character may be entirely fictional or based on a real-life person, ...
, played by
Christopher Meloni
Christopher Peter Meloni (; born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' for its first 12 seasons and its spin-off ...
and one of the lead characters on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an American English-language commercial broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Entertainment division of NBCUniversal, a division of Comcast, its headquarters are l ...
police procedural series ''
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and ''
Law & Order: Organized Crime''.
Stabler was a lead for the first 12 seasons of ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. As a result of Meloni's sudden departure from the cast at the end of the ''SVU'' twelfth season, Stabler abruptly retires from the police force off-screen during the ''SVU'' Season 13 premiere. In April 2020, it was announced that Meloni would reprise the role for a new ''SVU''-spinoff series,
where Stabler comes out of retirement to lead an NYPD
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
task force. The series was later revealed to be titled ''Law & Order: Organized Crime''.
Synopsis
Stabler was an
NYPD
The New York City Police Department (NYPD), officially the City of New York Police Department, established on May 23, 1845, is the primary municipal law enforcement agency within the City of New York, the largest and one of the oldest in ...
detective 1st Grade with
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
's 16th Precinct, which investigates
sex crime
Sex and the law deals with the regulation by law of human sexual activity. Sex laws vary from one place or jurisdiction to another, and have varied over time. Unlawful sexual acts are called sex crimes.
Some laws regarding sexual activity are ...
s. He joined the NYPD in 1986
or 1989,
according to conflicting statements given in different episodes. In show continuity, Stabler became a detective with the SVU in late 1992. By 1998, Stabler held the prestigious rank of Detective First Grade and was assigned to mentor new partner
Detective Olivia Benson (
Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (; born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, director and philanthropist. The daughter of bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay and actress Jayne Mansfield, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Peopl ...
), a police officer with six years of experience who was transferred to the SVU as a newly promoted detective.
The first episode of ''Special Victims Unit'' takes place one year into Stabler and Benson's partnership. Stabler is dedicated to his job but often takes cases personally, thus affecting his judgment. Nonetheless, Stabler has a 97% case-closure rate as of 2007.
His badge number is 6313.
In 2002 Stabler stated that he makes $68,000 a year,
though this number is impossibly low for an NYPD detective with first grade rank and over 10 years of tenure, and is an invention of the show for dramatic purposes.
Stabler is
Irish American and lived at 72-12 Castleside Street,
Glen Oaks, Queens
Glen Oaks is a neighborhood in the easternmost part of the New York City borough of Queens. The neighborhood is part of Queens Community Board 13.
Location
Glen Oaks lies between Grand Central Parkway and Nassau County to the north, Union ...
with his wife Kathy (
Isabel Gillies
Isabel Boyer Gillies (born February 9, 1970) is an American author and actress. She played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Her memoir ''Happens Every Day'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and h ...
) and five children (Maureen, Kathleen, Richard "Dickie", Elizabeth "Lizzie", and Elliot "Eli" Jr.). Stabler was born on October 20, 1966.
He is devoted to his family and frequently mentions or thinks about them while working cases. He is also a practicing
Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
whose faith sometimes complicates the cases on which he works.
Series creator
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) is an American film and television producer, best known for his ''Law & Order'' franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is al ...
named ''SVU''s two lead detectives after his son, Elliot, and his daughter, Olivia. Executive producer and head writer
Neal Baer
Neal Baer (born 1955) is an American pediatrician and television writer and producer. He is best known for his work on the television shows ''Designated Survivor'', '' ER'' and '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''.
Biography
Education
Baer w ...
has explained that, in contrast to Benson – "the empathetic, passionate voice for these victims"
– Stabler embodies "the rage we feel, the 'How can this happen?' feeling."
Of their partnership, Baer assessed that: "They both represent the feelings that we feel simultaneously when we hear about these cases. That's why they work so well together."
Biography
''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''
Stabler was born on October 20, 1966, and raised in
Bayside, Queens
Bayside is a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Queens. It is bounded by Whitestone to the northwest, the Long Island Sound and Little Neck Bay to the northeast, Douglaston to the east, Oakland Gardens to the south, and Fresh Meado ...
.
His father, Joseph Stabler, was a policeman who lost his pension and eventually died of
cancer
Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...
. Stabler had a difficult relationship with his father, who was physically and emotionally abusive.
His mother, Bernadette (née McGinley) (
Ellen Burstyn
Ellen Burstyn (born Edna Rae Gillooly; December 7, 1932) is an American actress. Known for her portrayals of complicated women in dramas, she is the recipient of numerous accolades, including an Academy Award, a Tony Award, and two Primetime Em ...
), has
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
and once nearly killed her son during a manic episode. As a result, Stabler has "erased his childhood"; he rarely talks about his father and maintains little contact with his mother.
He attended
Bayside High School, where he played on the football team.
Stabler was a
Marine and served in
Operation Desert Storm
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Ma ...
. During his time in the military, he was a
hand-to-hand combat specialist. He also has three
tattoos
A tattoo is a form of body modification made by inserting tattoo ink, dyes, and/or pigments, either indelible or temporary, into the dermis layer of the skin to form a design. Tattoo artists create these designs using several tattooing pr ...
, notably the
Eagle, Globe, and Anchor
The Eagle, Globe, and Anchor (commonly referred to as an EGA) is the official emblem and insignia of the United States Marine Corps. The current emblem traces its roots in the designs and ornaments of the early Continental Marines as well as the ...
tattoo on his forearm (the official
emblem
An emblem is an abstract or representational pictorial image that represents a concept, like a moral truth, or an allegory, or a person, like a king or saint.
Emblems vs. symbols
Although the words ''emblem'' and '' symbol'' are often use ...
of the Marine Corps), and the
crucifixion of Christ
The crucifixion and death of Jesus occurred in 1st-century Judea, most likely in AD 30 or AD 33. It is described in the four canonical gospels, referred to in the New Testament epistles, attested to by other ancient sources, and considere ...
on his left
bicep. One of his best friends died in the
September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commer ...
.
He has a B.A. from
Queens College, which he obtained by going to
night classes.
Stabler harbors a great deal of anger that is sometimes fueled by his job. He is often openly aggressive and intimidating toward suspects, which can either complicate the case further or lead to speedy confessions. When his wife Kathy (
Isabel Gillies
Isabel Boyer Gillies (born February 9, 1970) is an American author and actress. She played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Her memoir ''Happens Every Day'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and h ...
) leaves him in Season 6, Stabler's anger rises closer to the surface and, in a few episodes, threatens to boil over. One such instance occurs in a case involving
serial killer
A serial killer is typically a person who murders three or more persons,A
*
*
*
* with the murders taking place over more than a month and including a significant period of time between them. While most authorities set a threshold of three ...
Gordon Rickett (
Matthew Modine
Matthew Avery Modine (born March 22, 1959) is an American actor and filmmaker, who rose to prominence through his role as U.S. Marine Private/Sergeant J.T. "Joker" Davis in ''Full Metal Jacket''. His other film roles include the title character ...
), whom Stabler had investigated for raping and murdering a young girl 14 years earlier and thrown through a
plate glass
Plate glass, flat glass or sheet glass is a type of glass, initially produced in plane form, commonly used for windows, glass doors, transparent walls, and windscreens. For modern architectural and automotive applications, the flat glass is ...
window. During interrogation, Rickett tells Stabler that they harbor the same kind of rage, and that if it were not for his family and his job, Stabler would be just like him. When Benson and Stabler catch Rickett about to murder another young girl, Stabler appears ready to kill him in cold blood; it is only Benson's intervention that prevents him from doing so.
In SVU Season 7, he goes to see a police psychiatrist, Dr. Rebecca Hendrix (
Mary Stuart Masterson
Mary Stuart Masterson (born June 28, 1966) is an American actress and director. She has starred in the films '' At Close Range'' (1986), '' Some Kind of Wonderful'' (1987), '' Chances Are'' (1989), ''Fried Green Tomatoes'' (1991) and '' Benny & ...
), after using
excessive force
Excessive Force is a musical side project started in 1991 by Sascha Konietzko of KMFDM and Buzz McCoy of My Life with the Thrill Kill Kult.
History
In 1991, Excessive Force released the single "Conquer Your House", followed by the album ''Co ...
on an abusive parent. Stabler eventually opens up to Hendrix about his personal demons,
and they become close until Hendrix is transferred. By Season 9, he and Kathy reconcile, and Stabler learns to better deal with his problems.
In the
Season 12 finale, Stabler is forced to shoot Jenna Fox (
Hayley McFarland
Hayley McFarland (born March 29, 1991) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying Emily Lightman in the Fox crime drama series ''Lie to Me''. In the supernatural horror film ''The Conjuring'', McFarland portrayed Nancy Perron.
Ear ...
), a young woman who opened fire in the Special Victims squad room on the men who raped and murdered her mother, killing them and recurring character
Sister Peg (
Charlayne Woodard
Charlaine "Charlayne" Woodard (born December 29, 1953) is an American playwright and actress. She is a two-time Obie Award winner as well as a Tony Award and Drama Desk nominee. She was a series regular on the hit FX TV series Pose. She played ...
). Jenna dies in his arms. After the shootout, Stabler is placed on
administrative leave
Administrative leave is a temporary leave from a job assignment, with pay and benefits intact. Generally, the term is reserved for employees of non-business institutions such as schools, police, and hospitals.
The definition of administrative leav ...
by the NYPD's Internal Affairs Bureau. Although he is eventually cleared, this shooting is the sixth such incident in his NYPD career. His superior, Captain
Donald Cragen
Donald 'Don' Cragen is a fictional character played by Dann Florek in the American police procedural television series ''Law & Order'' and its spinoff, ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', on NBC. Cragen is a homicide captain with the New York ...
(
Dann Florek
Ezekial Dann Florek (born May 1, 1950) is an American actor and film director. He is best known for his role as New York City Police Captain Donald Cragen on NBC's '' Law & Order'' and its spinoff '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', and Dav ...
), comments that if Stabler wants to keep his job, he will have to undergo a psychological evaluation, take an anger management class, and submit to an internal review of his entire personnel file. Benson is confident that Stabler will "tell them to go to hell", and he proves her right by retiring from the force off-screen during the ''SVU'' Season 13 premiere.
Stabler appears in the Season 22 episode "
Return of the Prodigal Son", having been absent from the series for 10 years. It is revealed that, after quitting the SVU, Stabler got a job as the NYPD's liaison in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, going after terrorists and
organized crime
Organized crime (or organised crime) is a category of transnational, national, or local groupings of highly centralized enterprises run by criminals to engage in illegal activity, most commonly for profit. While organized crime is generally th ...
. He comes back to New York to attend a ceremony honoring Benson, whom he has not seen or spoken to since leaving SVU. Stabler is targeted by mobsters who plant a bomb in his rental car, but it ends up killing Kathy instead. Stabler is devastated, but determined to bring her killers to justice, and joins the new NYPD's Organized Crime Control Bureau.
''Law & Order: Organized Crime''
Season 1
In the Organized Crime Task Force, Stabler is partnered with Sergeant Ayanna Bell (
Danielle Moné Truitt). He comes to suspect that gangster Richard Wheatley (
Dylan McDermott
Dylan McDermott (born Mark Anthony McDermott; October 26, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his role as lawyer and law firm head Bobby Donnell on the legal drama series ''The Practice'', which earned him a Golden Globe Award for Best ...
) ordered the bombing because Stabler was investigating him and his father, mob boss Manfredi Sinatra (
Chazz Palminteri).
Stabler, Bell, Detective Diego Morales (Michael Rivera), Detective Freddie Washburn (Ben Chase), and technician Jet Slootmaekers (
Ainsley Seiger) zero in on Wheatley's criminal empire, which is smuggling
COVID-19 vaccine
A COVID19 vaccine is a vaccine intended to provide acquired immunity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS‑CoV‑2), the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 ( COVID19).
Prior to the COVID19 pandemic, an e ...
.
It is implied in ''Organized Crime'' that Stabler suffers from
post-traumatic stress disorder
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a mental and behavioral disorder that can develop because of exposure to a traumatic event, such as sexual assault, warfare, traffic collisions, child abuse, domestic violence, or other threats o ...
as a result of the bombing and Kathy's death. Benson tells him to get help, but he angrily rejects her advice, telling her to "back off". Benson later joins Stabler's children in staging an intervention for him, but he rebuffs them and storms out. Later on, however, he reaches out to Wheatley's ex-wife Angela (
Tamara Taylor
Tamara Taylor (born September 27, 1970) is a Canadian actress. She appeared in the role of Dr. Camille Saroyan, head of the Forensic Division, in the forensic crime drama ''Bones''. She also appeared in season seven of '' Marvel's Agents of S.H ...
) because she understands his pain, as her oldest son, Rafiq, had been murdered years earlier.
Stabler and Angela are instantly attracted to one another, and nearly sleep together until Stabler pulls back, realizing that he is crossing professional lines and that he is not ready for a new relationship. They agree to keep the relationship professional, and are on good terms – until Stabler learns that Angela ordered the bombing, which was meant for Kathy, not him.
Angela later tells him that Kathy's murder was revenge for her son's death, which her ex-husband told her occurred during a police raid Stabler had ordered. Stabler replies that he had nothing to do with Rafiq's death, and that it was in fact Wheatley, then Rafiq's stepfather, who had him killed after catching him stealing from his drug ring. Angela then promises to help Stabler put Wheatley in prison. He ultimately arrests Wheatley, who makes a deal with federal officials to provide information on his Mafia connections in return for a reduced sentence.
Season 2
Stabler is assigned to infiltrate the Kosta Organization, an Albanian crime family; posing as ex-con Eddie Wagner, he becomes bodyguard to Reggie Bogdani (
Dash Mihok
Dashiell Raymond Mihok (; born May 24, 1974) is an American actor and director best known for playing Brendan "Bunchy" Donovan in the Showtime drama '' Ray Donovan''.
Early life
Mihok was born in New York City, the son of theater actors Andrea ...
), a
soldier
A soldier is a person who is a member of an army. A soldier can be a conscripted or volunteer enlisted person, a non-commissioned officer, or an officer.
Etymology
The word ''soldier'' derives from the Middle English word , from Old French ...
for
Don
Don, don or DON and variants may refer to:
Places
*County Donegal, Ireland, Chapman code DON
*Don (river), a river in European Russia
*Don River (disambiguation), several other rivers with the name
*Don, Benin, a town in Benin
*Don, Dang, a vill ...
Jon Kosta (
Michael Raymond-James
Michael Raymond-James (born Michael Weverstad; December 24, 1977) is an American actor. He is best known for playing René Lenier in the first season of the HBO series ''True Blood'', Britt Pollack on the FX series ''Terriers'', Neal Cassidy/B ...
). His first assignment is to help Bogdani and his uncle, Kosta's
underboss
Underboss ( it, sottocapo) is a position within the leadership structure of certain organized crime groups, particularly in Sicilian, Greek, and Italian-American Mafia crime families. The underboss is second in command to the boss. The under ...
Albi Briscu (
Vinnie Jones
Vincent Peter Jones (born 5 January 1965) is a British actor, presenter, and former professional footballer.
Jones played professionally as a defensive midfielder from 1984 to 1999, notably for Wimbledon, Leeds United, Sheffield United, Chels ...
), burn down a bar in which they have murdered the owner, who owed them money, in order to make his death look like an accident. That night, while celebrating with his new "employers", Stabler is drugged. He goes to Benson's apartment in a panic, and she sends him to Bell's house to sleep it off.
Stabler finds out that Briscu is
closeted, and murdered his male lover to keep from being
outed
Outing is the act of disclosing an LGBT person's sexual orientation or gender identity without that person's consent. It is often done for political reasons, either to instrumentalize homophobia in order to discredit political opponents or to com ...
. Briscu threatens to kill Stabler to keep him quiet, but Stabler assures Briscu that his secret is safe with him. In gratitude, Briscu vouches for Stabler when he gets into a confrontation with Kosta's nephew. Briscu's wife Flutura (
Lolita Davidovich
Lolita Davidovich ( sr-Latn, Lolita Davidović, italic=unset; born July 15, 1961) is a Canadian-born film and television actress, best known for portraying Blaze Starr in the 1989 film '' Blaze'', for which she received a Chicago Film Critics As ...
) is attracted to Stabler, who plays along in order to get closer into the Kosta Organization. After Stabler covertly helps Bell and Benson rescue a young girl that the Kosta Organization is
trafficking
Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations.
There are various ...
, however, Flutura becomes suspicious that someone in the family is a traitor.
After Bogdani botches a hit on gubernatorial candidate Teddy Garcia (
Elliot Villar
Elliot Villar (born June 6, 1980) is an American theater and screen actor. He made his Broadway debut in 2011 as part of the original cast of ''War Horse''. He is perhaps best known for his role as Fernando Vera in the USA Network show '' Mr. Rob ...
) and kills Garcia's wife Diana (Allison Thomas Lee), Stabler and Bell arrest him and get him to inform on the Kosta Organization, bringing the entire operation down.
Meanwhile, in a crossover between ''SVU'' and ''Organized Crime'', Wheatley's trial begins. Wheatley's lawyer,
Rafael Barba
Rafael Barba is a fictional character portrayed by Raúl Esparza, who joined the cast of the long-running NBC crime drama series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' on a recurring basis during the 14th season episode " Twenty-Five Acts". The ...
(
Raúl Esparza
Raúl Eduardo Esparza (born October 24, 1970) is an American stage, screen, and voice actor. Considered one of Broadway's leading men since the 2000s, he is best known for his Tony Award-nominated performance as Bobby in the 2006 Broadway reviva ...
), who was once the Assistant District Attorney for SVU, accuses Stabler of framing Wheatley for Kathy's murder. Stabler feigns out-of-control anger on the witness stand in order to be cited for
contempt of court and thrown out of the courtroom so he can be alone with Wheatley. He baits Wheatley by insinuating that he slept with Angela; as intended, this tactic provokes Wheatley to testify in his own defense, during which he loses his temper and threatens prosecuting ADA
Dominick "Sonny" Carisi, Jr. (
Peter Scanavino
Peter Muller Scanavino (born February 29, 1980) is an American actor. He currently stars as ADA Dominick "Sonny" Carisi Jr. in the long-running NBC crime/legal drama series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''.
Career
Since 2005, Scanavino ha ...
) in open court. Much to Stabler's surprise, however, the jury comes back
deadlocked, resulting in a mistrial.
The District Attorney's office ultimately decides not to pursue a
retrial
A new trial or retrial is a recurrence of a court case. A new trial may potentially be ordered for some or all of the matters at issue in the original trial. Depending upon the rules of the jurisdiction and the decision of the court that ordered ...
, meaning that he will not be punished legally for ordering Kathy's murder.
After Wheatley and
cyberterrorist
Cyberterrorism is the use of the Internet to conduct violent acts that result in, or threaten, the loss of life or significant bodily harm, in order to achieve political or ideological gains through threat or intimidation. Acts of deliberate, la ...
Sebastian McClane (
Robin Lord Taylor
Robin Lord Taylor (born June 4, 1978) is an American film and television actor and director, known for his role as Oswald Cobblepot in the Fox TV series '' Gotham'', as well as ''Accepted'' (2006), ''Another Earth'' (2011), ''Would You Rather'' ...
) hack into the
New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed ...
and steal millions, Stabler and his team go after them, but Stabler jeopardizes the investigation by beating Wheatley up upon discovering that he used the date of Kathy's death as his password. Stabler retaliates by pretending to go on a romantic date with Angela, sending Wheatley into a jealous rage. Meanwhile, Bell threatens to take Stabler off the task force, but he manages to persuade her and their superiors to give him two more days to prove Wheatley's guilt, offering to resign from the NYPD if he fails.
Soon afterward, Wheatley strong-arms McClane into crippling the city's power grid, causing
rolling blackout
A rolling blackout, also referred to as rota or rotational load shedding, rota disconnection, feeder rotation, or a rotating outage, is an intentionally engineered electrical power shutdown in which electricity delivery is stopped for non-overla ...
s. After double-crossing McClane and leaving him to die, Wheatley demands Richie's release from prison, a private jet to take him and Angela out of the city, and Stabler admitting to "framing" him for Kathy's murder on
livestream
Livestreaming is streaming media simultaneously recorded and broadcast in real-time over the internet. It is often referred to simply as streaming. Non-live media such as video-on-demand, vlogs, and YouTube videos are technically streamed, but ...
. The NYPD release Richie to Wheatley's custody, but Wheatley stuns them by killing his own son. He then reveals that he has kidnapped Bernadette, and will kill her unless Stabler makes his "confession". Stabler refuses to absolve Wheatley of Kathy's murder, however, and manages to rescue his mother.
After Slootmaekers restores the city's power grid with McClane's help, Stabler calls Angela, who is on the run with Wheatley. He tells her that Wheatley murdered Richie, which provokes her to deliberately crash her car into the ocean, with her and Wheatley inside. Angela's body is found in the crash, but Wheatley has disappeared. The next day, Bell tells Stabler that he is being brought before a disciplinary committee, and is in danger of losing his job and pension. That night, fellow undercover NYPD detective and family friend Frank Donnelly (
Denis Leary
Denis Colin Leary (born August 18, 1957) is an American actor and comedian. A native of Massachusetts, Leary first came to prominence as a stand-up comedian, especially through appearances on MTV (including the comedic song "Asshole") and throu ...
) comes to his aid, having been alerted to Stabler's problems by Benson.
Soon afterward, however, Stabler learns from an undercover informant that Donnelly is taking bribes from the Marcy Street Killers, an organized crime syndicate.
Stabler ingratiates himself with Donnelly by helping him take money off a dead drug dealer, even pretending to take a bribe. With help from Bell and Slootmaekers, he soon learns that Donnelly leads a ring of corrupt cops who work for Preston Webb (
Mykelti Williamson
Mykelti Williamson (born March 4, 1957) is an American actor best known for his roles in the films ''Forrest Gump'', ''Con Air'' and '' Ali'', and the television shows ''Boomtown'', '' 24'', and '' Justified''. In 2016, he portrayed Gabriel Maxs ...
), leader of the Marcy Street Killers, and that the drug dealer they robbed worked for Webb. After Stabler saves Donnelly from Webb's hitmen, he becomes an official member of his gang.
Family
Stabler married his wife,
Kathy
Kathy is a feminine given name. It is a pet form of Katherine, Kathleen and their related forms. Kathy may refer to:
In sports
* Kathy Bald, Canadian freestyle swimmer
* Kathy May, American tennis player
*Kathy Radzuweit, German volleyball playe ...
(
Isabel Gillies
Isabel Boyer Gillies (born February 9, 1970) is an American author and actress. She played Kathy Stabler, Elliot Stabler's wife in '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Her memoir ''Happens Every Day'' was a ''New York Times'' bestseller, and h ...
) when they were both 17 years old, and at the beginning of the series, they have four school-aged children: Maureen (
Erin Broderick), Kathleen (Holiday Segal in ''SVU'' Season 1 and Allison Siko in ''SVU'' Seasons 3-12 and ''Organized Crime''), and twins Richard "Dickie" (
Jeffrey Scaperrotta), and Elizabeth "Lizzie" (Patricia Cook). Richard (he stopped using his nickname upon entering adolescence) is named after Col. Richard Finley (
James Brolin
James Brolin (, born Craig Kenneth Bruderlin; July 18, 1940) is an American actor. Brolin has won two Golden Globes and an Emmy. He received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on August 27, 1998. He is the father of actor Josh Brolin.
He ...
), Stabler's former commanding officer in the Marines, whom Stabler later arrests after discovering that he murdered a woman.
After years of the stress involved with being married to a police officer, Kathy leaves Stabler, taking their children, and temporarily moves in with her mother.
Following a case involving a divorce that turned violent, Stabler signs the
divorce
Divorce (also known as dissolution of marriage) is the process of terminating a marriage or marital union. Divorce usually entails the canceling or reorganizing of the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage, thus dissolving the ...
papers, saying, "when love warps to hate, there's nothing you won't do."
However, after being cleared in the death of a suspect, Stabler realizes that he cannot bear to lose either his job or his family, so he seeks reconciliation with his wife.
A short time later, Kathy announces that she is
pregnant and asks Stabler to come home.
After a serious car accident, Kathy delivers a healthy baby boy, Elliot Stabler Jr. (Eli) (born November 17, 2007). Kathy nearly dies as a result of the crash, but paramedics are able to save her with Benson's help.
Of his five children, Kathleen and Dickie have most directly affected his job. Kathleen is twice charged with
DUI
Driving under the influence (DUI)—also called driving while impaired, impaired driving, driving while intoxicated (DWI), drunk driving, operating while intoxicated (OWI), operating under the influence (OUI), operating vehicle under the infl ...
;
he uses his influence as a police officer to make the first charge disappear, but he eventually realizes that he has to let her face the consequences of her actions, and she is sentenced to
community service
Community service is unpaid work performed by a person or group of people for the benefit and betterment of their community without any form of compensation. Community service can be distinct from volunteering, since it is not always performe ...
.
Kathleen then steals her father's
credit card
A credit card is a payment card issued to users (cardholders) to enable the cardholder to pay a merchant for goods and services based on the cardholder's accrued debt (i.e., promise to the card issuer to pay them for the amounts plus the o ...
and gives it to her boyfriend, who rings up thousands of dollars in charges.
She is later arrested for
breaking and entering
Burglary, also called breaking and entering and sometimes housebreaking, is the act of entering a building or other areas without permission, with the intention of committing a criminal offence. Usually that offence is theft, robbery or murder ...
and
robbery, at which time doctors and her family realize that she suffers from
bipolar disorder
Bipolar disorder, previously known as manic depression, is a mental disorder characterized by periods of depression and periods of abnormally elevated mood that last from days to weeks each. If the elevated mood is severe or associated with ...
, which is a condition she shares with her paternal grandmother, Bernadette. When she faces prison time, Stabler reaches out to his mother for the first time in three years and asks her to tell Kathleen about her illness so she will get help. After speaking with her grandmother, Kathleen agrees to treatment.
She later becomes an advocate for
sexual assault victims, and in one episode, helps her father on a case.
Dickie also occasionally gives his father problems. In a Season 11 episode, he runs away from school and tries to join the
Army
An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...
, something Stabler disapproves of. It later turns out that Dickie is acting out because his friend, Shane, has been murdered. Stabler refuses to sign a parental consent form for Dickie to join the Army, but resolves to be a more attentive parent.
Stabler is fiercely protective of his children and becomes defensive if a suspect asks about his family; it is suggested that he sees aspects of his children in every victim. As a result, he harbors an intense hatred of
pedophiles
Pedophilia ( alternatively spelt paedophilia) is a psychiatric disorder in which an adult or older adolescent experiences a primary or exclusive sexual attraction to prepubescent children. Although girls typically begin the process of puberty a ...
, admitting to a police psychiatrist that he sometimes
fantasizes about killing them. He almost loses his job as a result.
In a later episode, he beats up a pedophile (
Tom Noonan
Tom Noonan (born April 12, 1951) is an American actor, director, and screenwriter, best known for his roles as Francis Dolarhyde in '' Manhunter'' (1986), Frankenstein's Monster in ''The Monster Squad'' (1987), Cain in '' RoboCop 2'' (1990), T ...
) who posts a picture of his daughter Elizabeth on his website.
Stabler has occasionally seen aspects of himself in a
child abuser; during one case, the actions of an abusive parent prompt him to recall an incident in which he lost his temper and raised a hand to his daughter Maureen, who was a toddler at the time.
Child victims tend to respond to him. For example, Stabler successfully reaches out to a 15-year-old girl (
Rachael Bella
Rachael Bella Zvagelsky (née Kneeland, born March 13, 1984) known professionally as Rachael Bella, is an American retired actress.
Career
Bella is best known for her role as Becca Kotler in the movie '' The Ring''. She has also appeared in oth ...
) who
regresses to a childlike state after being sexually assaulted by her father. SVU's resident psychiatrist, Dr.
George Huang (
B.D. Wong), theorizes that only Stabler would be able to reach her, as he is a father, and she is looking for a father figure.
Kathy's death and beyond
In the Season 22 episode "
Return of the Prodigal Son", Kathy is severely injured in a car bombing, and later dies in hospital when her spleen ruptures. Her death leads Stabler to join the Organized Crime Control Bureau.
In the aftermath of Kathy's murder, Stabler takes Eli (Nicky Torchia) to live with him, although he is rarely home. Meanwhile, Stabler's mother Bernadette is arrested after having a manic episode in which she slaps a child she believes to be Elliot. Stabler sees that her illness is worsening, and takes her in to live with him and Eli, with Kathleen occasionally checking in.
When Bernadette accuses Eli of stealing her medication, Stabler dismisses it as paranoia – until Benson discovers that Eli is indeed stealing and selling Bernadette's
Valium
Diazepam, first marketed as Valium, is a medicine of the benzodiazepine family that acts as an anxiolytic. It is commonly used to treat a range of conditions, including anxiety, seizures, alcohol withdrawal syndrome, muscle spasms, insomnia, a ...
.
When Eli is charged in the death of a girl he had been partying with, Stabler asks Slootmaekers to find out everything she can about the victim. Slootmaekers discovers that the girl was in fact murdered by a hitman with ties to Wheatley.
The crime boss further interferes in Stabler's family by hiring elderly con artist Miles Darman (
James Cromwell) to romance Bernadette as a cover for spying on him.
Darman develops real feelings for Bernadette, but unwittingly helps Wheatley kidnap her and hold her hostage as part of his master plan to force Stabler to make a
false confession
A false confession is an admission of guilt for a crime which the individual did not commit. Although such confessions seem counterintuitive, they can be made voluntarily, perhaps to protect a third party, or induced through coercive interroga ...
to framing him for Kathy's murder. Stabler manages to save Bernadette, however, and has Darman arrested.
Partners
Olivia Benson
Stabler is partnered with Olivia Benson for the series' first 12 seasons. They are best friends and trust each other completely. Stabler is Benson's longest relationship with a man,
and they have even each promised to give the other a kidney should either of them need a transplant.
When Kathy goes into labor with Eli following a car accident, Benson helps save Kathy's life and deliver the baby.
Their relationship is not without friction, however. The two sometimes argue over the cases they work on; Benson tends to be quicker to side with the victims, while Stabler is more skeptical. For example, during a case in which three women are charged with raping a male
stripper, Benson and ADA
Alexandra Cabot (
Stephanie March
Stephanie Caroline March Benton (born July 23, 1974) is an American actress. She is known for starring as Alexandra Cabot in the crime drama franchise ''Law & Order'', which she played in the NBC series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (2 ...
) believe the man's story, while Stabler takes a cynical view of his claim from the start.
Benson and Stabler are separated at times during the show. She asks for a new partner after Stabler expects her to jeopardize his life to shoot a convicted sex offender (
Lou Diamond Phillips
Louis Diamond Phillips ( born Upchurch; February 17, 1962) is a Filipino-American actor and film director. His breakthrough came when he starred as Ritchie Valens in the biographical drama film '' La Bamba'' (1987). For ''Stand and Deliver'' (19 ...
) who had kidnapped two children and killed one of them. Instead, she is briefly reassigned to computer crimes and replaced by a Queens SVU detective, Lucius Blaine (
Anthony Anderson
Anthony Anderson (born August 15, 1970) is an American actor, comedian and game show host. He is best known for his leading roles in drama series such as Marlin Boulet on '' K-Ville'', and as NYPD Detective Kevin Bernard on the NBC crime drama ...
).
Benson and Stabler become partners again in the eighth season. They remain partners for the rest of Stabler's time in the precinct.
In the Season 12 episode "Merchandise," Benson and Stabler are temporarily appointed as
Special Deputy U.S. Marshals so they can arrest the leaders of a
human trafficking operation located outside their jurisdiction. Once the criminals are in custody, they turn in the badges and take up their positions in SVU again.
After Stabler abruptly quits his job, he does not see or speak to Benson again for 10 years; when they finally see each other again, he tells her that he could not bear to tell her he was leaving, and did not know how to reach out to her in the intervening years. When Stabler's car is bombed and his wife Kathy severely injured, Benson, now SVU's Captain, has to restrain him from getting involved in the investigation. This causes friction between them, and they have a quietly intense conversation about how their partnership ended. When Kathy dies, however, Benson does everything she can to comfort and support her grieving friend, and to help him make sure that Kathy's murderers face justice.
Benson also recognizes that Stabler is showing signs of PTSD, and tries unsuccessfully to persuade him to get help, even staging an intervention with his children. Stabler rejects her help, but tells her he loves her.
Lucius Blaine
Lucius Blaine is played by actor Anthony Anderson. He first appeared in episode "Fat" when he was temporarily assigned as Elliot Stabler's partner when Benson was reassigned to Computer Crimes. He was assigned as Stabler's partner so Elliot could get an eyesight of what it is like to actually work with Stabler himself. After the case was over with, and the case was solved, Lucius Blaine went back to Brooklyn SVU. After Lucius Blaine left, that's when Stabler was signed with Dani Beck.
Dani Beck
Stabler is assigned a temporary partner named
Dani Beck
Dani may refer to:
People
* Dani people, a people living in the central highlands of West Papua
* Dani (surname), a surname
* Danes (Germanic tribe), a tribe in southern Scandinavia
* Dani (footballer, born 1951) (Daniel Ruiz-Bazán Justa), Spani ...
(
Connie Nielsen
Connie Inge-Lise Nielsen (born 3 July 1965) is a Danish actress. She has starred as Lucilla in the film ''Gladiator'' (2000) and as Hippolyta in the DC Extended Universe, and in the films ''Wonder Woman'' (2017), '' Justice League'' (2017), '' ...
) while Benson is working undercover in
Oregon
Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...
(
Mariska Hargitay
Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (; born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, director and philanthropist. The daughter of bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay and actress Jayne Mansfield, her accolades include a Primetime Emmy Award, a Peopl ...
was pregnant and on
maternity leave
Parental leave, or family leave, is an employee benefit available in almost all countries. The term "parental leave" may include maternity, Paternity (law), paternity, and adoption leave; or may be used distinctively from "maternity leave" an ...
). Beck takes well to the job, and she and Stabler become close. There is also some sexual tension between the two, as Stabler was at the time separated from his wife and during one case, Beck and Stabler share a kiss. The relationship goes no further, however, as Stabler still loves his wife despite being separated wanting to reconcile with her and Beck leaves when she realizes that she will not be able to save every victim.
Jo Marlowe
Jo Marlowe
''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', a spin-off of the crime drama ''Law & Order'', follows the detectives who work in the "Special Victims Unit" of the 16th Precinct of the New York City Police Department, a unit that focuses on crimes involv ...
(
Sharon Stone
Sharon Vonne Stone (born March 10, 1958) is an American actress. Known for primarily playing femme fatales and women of mystery on film and television, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1990s. She is the recipient of various ...
) was Stabler's training officer. She is appointed by District Attorney
Jack McCoy
John James McCoy is a fictional character in the television drama ''Law & Order''. He was created by Dick Wolf and Michael S. Chernuchin and has been portrayed by Sam Waterston during both the show's original run from 1994 to 2010 and since it ...
(
Sam Waterston
Samuel Atkinson Waterston (born November 15, 1940) is an American actor. Waterston is known for his work in theater, television and, film. He has received a Primetime Emmy Award, Golden Globe Award, and Screen Actors Guild Award, and has receive ...
) to be the new ADA for the SVU squad during a four-episode run in Season 11. Stabler reveals that he has not seen her for 15 years when she first arrives as the new ADA. Marlowe was a lieutenant in 1995 when she left the NYPD after her command decision resulted in the deaths of two of her officers. She was diagnosed with an "aggressive" type of
breast cancer
Breast cancer is cancer that develops from breast tissue. Signs of breast cancer may include a lump in the breast, a change in breast shape, dimpling of the skin, milk rejection, fluid coming from the nipple, a newly inverted nipple, or a r ...
and had a
bilateral radical mastectomy a year before joining the SVU squad.
Ayanna Bell
Ayanna Bell (
Danielle Moné Truitt) is Stabler's new partner in the Organized Crime Task Force and is in charge of the task force on which he serves, holding the rank of Sergeant.
Awards and decorations
The following are the medals and service awards worn by Elliot Stabler, as seen in "Dolls."
In "Do or Die" (''Law & Order: Organized Crime'', Season 2, Episode 22), Stabler is awarded the
New York City Police Department Combat Cross
The Police Combat Cross is the second highest departmental award of the New York City Police Department. The Police Combat Cross is awarded to police officers who, "having received Honorable Mention awards, successfully and intelligently perform an ...
for his actions in taking down the Marcy Killers and the Brotherhood.
Development and casting
For the role of Stabler, the finalists were Meloni,
Tim Matheson
Tim Matheson (born Timothy Lewis Matthieson; December 31, 1947) is an American actor and director. Some of his best-known acting roles include the title character of the 1960s animated '' Jonny Quest'' TV series, Eric "Otter" Stratton in the 19 ...
, and
John Slattery
John M. Slattery Jr. (born August 13, 1962) is an American actor and director widely known for his role as Roger Sterling Jr. in the AMC drama series ''Mad Men'' (2007–15), for which he was nominated four times for the Primetime Emmy Award fo ...
. Meloni and Hargitay had auditioned in the final round together, and after the actors left, there was a moment of dead silence, after which Wolf blurted out, "Oh well. There's no doubt who we should choose – Hargitay and Meloni." The duo, who Wolf believed had the perfect chemistry from the first time he saw them together, were his first choice.
Garth Ancier
Garth Ancier (born September 3, 1957, in Perth Amboy, New Jersey) is an American television producer and media executive.
Early life
Ancier graduated from the Lawrenceville School in 1975 and Princeton University in 1979.
He began his broadca ...
, head of NBC, agreed, and the rest of the panel assembled voiced their assent.
In May 2009, after the show's
tenth season, Hargitay and Meloni's contracts expired when they were reportedly making $375,000–$385,000 per episode.
During negotiations in April for a new contract, the actors attempted to receive a percentage of the show's profits. It was rumored that NBC threatened to replace Hargitay and Meloni if they persisted in their demands. Two months later, however, it was officially reported that both their contracts had been renewed for two more years.
Departure from ''SVU''
In May 2011, Meloni announced that he would not be returning to ''SVU'' in fall 2011 for its 13th season after the failure of negotiations over a new contract. The Stabler character was subsequently written out of the show.
Guest return to ''SVU''
Stabler returned in the ''Special Victims Unit'' episode "
Return of the Prodigal Son", when his wife, Kathy, is killed in a car bombing. Her death leads Stabler to reach out to Benson to help find her killers. This episode served as a lead-in for the new series, ''Organized Crime''.
Return to ''Law & Order'' with ''Organized Crime''
On March 31, 2020, NBC announced that it had ordered a 13-episode series with Meloni reprising his role as Stabler in a then-untitled ''SVU'' spinoff, to be produced by
Dick Wolf
Richard Anthony Wolf (born December 20, 1946) is an American film and television producer, best known for his ''Law & Order'' franchise. Since 1990, the franchise has included six police/courtroom dramas and four international spinoffs. He is al ...
. Later announced as ''
Law & Order: Organized Crime'',
the new series centers on an organized crime task force.
Meloni's spin-off was initially slated for a fall release; plans for the series, however, were delayed to 2021. As a result of this, plans for him to appear in the
22nd-season premiere of ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' were subsequently scrapped, the show-runner,
Warren Leight
Warren Donald Leight (; born January 17, 1957) is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director and television producer. He is best known for his work on ''Law & Order: Criminal Intent'' and '' Lights Out'' and as the showrunner for ''In ...
, deciding to wait until the night of Meloni's spin-off new premiere date.
Appearances on other shows
Stabler appears in three episodes of ''
Law & Order'' and one episode of ''
Law & Order: Trial by Jury''. Since his return to ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', he has made eight guest appearances to date.
* ''Law & Order'': "Entitled: Part 2" (February 18, 2000)
* ''Law & Order'': "Fools for Love" (February 23, 2000)
* ''Law & Order: Trial by Jury'': "Day" (May 3, 2005)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "Return of the Prodigal Son" (April 1, 2021)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "Trick-Rolled at the Moulin" (May 13, 2021)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "Wolves in Sheep's Clothing" (June 3, 2021)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "And the Empire Strikes Back" (September 23, 2021)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "I Thought You Were on My Side" (September 30, 2021)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "People vs. Richard Wheatley" (December 9, 2021)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "Did You Believe in Miracles?" (May 5, 2022)
* ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'': "Gimme Shelter – Part Two" (September 22, 2022)
* ''Law & Order'': "Gimme Shelter – Part Three" (September 22, 2022)
Reception
Meloni was nominated for an
Emmy Award
The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...
in 2006, in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for his role as Elliot Stabler.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stabler, Elliot
American male characters in television
Crossover characters in television
Fictional characters from New York City
Fictional characters with post-traumatic stress disorder
Fictional Gulf War veterans
Fictional New York City Police Department detectives
Fictional United States Marine Corps personnel
Fictional victims of domestic abuse
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit characters
Television characters introduced in 1999
Fictional Irish American people