Christopher Meloni

Christopher Peter Meloni (; born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for portraying NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama series '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' (1999–2011, 2021–present) and its spin-off ''Organized Crime'' (2021–present), for which he was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award. He also played Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama '' Oz'' (1998–2003), and starred in and executive produced the Syfy series '' Happy!'' (2017–2019).

Meloni's film credits include ''12 Monkeys'' (1995), ''Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas'' (1998), '' Runaway Bride'' (1999), ''Wet Hot American Summer'' (2001), '' Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle'' (2004), '' Green Lantern: First Flight'' (2009), '' 42'' (2013) and ''Man of Steel'' (2013).

Early life and education

Meloni was born in Washington, D.C., the youngest of three children of Cecile (née Chagnon; 1926–2016), a homemaker, and Charles Robert Meloni (1927–2012), an endocrinologist. He has an older brother and sister. His maternal ancestry is French Canadian, and he is a descendant of Matthias Farnsworth and Edmund Rice. His paternal ancestry is Italian; one great-grandfather was born in Sardinia and another was born in Velva.Stated on ''Finding Your Roots, February 9, 2021''

Meloni attended St. Stephen's School, now St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School, in Alexandria, Virginia, where he was a quarterback on the football team. After graduating he attended the University of Colorado-Boulder where he took acting classes for electives. He earned a Bachelor of Arts in history in 1983. After college, he went to New York continuing to study acting. He took classes with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre as well as at the Center for the Media Arts.

Career

Meloni acted in commercials, short-lived TV series, and bit parts in a number of films. His first noticeable role was the hotheaded son of a Mafia don in the 1996 thriller '' Bound''. He appeared as Robbie Sinclair's friend Spike in ''Dinosaurs'' in the early 1990s. He played criminal Jimmy Liery in eight episodes of ''NYPD Blue'' during 1996-1997, and the fiancé of Julia Roberts's character in the 1999 romantic comedy '' Runaway Bride''.

From 1998 to 2003, Meloni portrayed the bisexual criminal Chris Keller on the HBO series '' Oz''. ''Law & Order'' producer Dick Wolf signed Meloni to portray Elliot Stabler on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' in 1999. Meloni appeared on both ''Oz'' and ''Law & Order: SVU'' simultaneously until ''Oz'' was cancelled in 2003. Meloni was nominated for the 2006 Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series for his role as Elliot Stabler. In May 2011, Meloni announced that he had been unable to agree on a contract and would not be returning for season 13 of ''SVU''. His character was written out as having put in his retirement papers. After nearly a decade, Meloni announced in March 2020 that he would be reprising his role of Stabler in the ''Law & Order'' franchise on a spin-off show titled '' Law & Order: Organized Crime''. Meloni appeared in a crossover event during season 22 of ''SVU''.

In 2012, Meloni joined the cast of ''True Blood'' during the series' fifth season as Roman, a "powerful, 500-year-old vampire who sits at the head of the table of the Vampire Authority."

Meloni played Colonel Hardy, a supporting role, in the Superman reboot film '' Man of Steel'', which was released in 2013. That year, he played Brooklyn Dodgers manager Leo Durocher in the historical baseball feature '' 42''. Meloni starred in the 2014 comedy '' They Came Together''. He stars as John Taylor in the video game '' Call of Duty: Black Ops III''. In 2016, Meloni shot the heist film '' Marauders''.

Meloni starred in and executive produced the Syfy series '' Happy!'', based on the comic book series created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Darick Robertson, which premiered in 2017. The series was canceled on June 4, 2019.

In 2018, Meloni guest starred in two episodes of the FX drama series '' Pose'', opposite Dominique Jackson. He appeared on the third season of ''The Handmaid's Tale'' as Commander Winslow in 2019.

Philanthropy

In 2004 and 2006, respectively, Meloni competed in the fourth and the eighth series of Bravo's '' Celebrity Poker Showdown''; in the eighth series, he finished in second place, behind Robin Tunney, and ahead of Macy Gray, Joy Behar, and Andy Dick. He played for Feed the Children.

He appeared on '' Celebrity Jeopardy!'' on November 10, 2006, defeating fellow ''Law & Order'' stars Sam Waterston and Kathryn Erbe. Meloni split his $50,000 charity prize between the Big Apple Circus Clown Care Program and the Montefiore Advocacy Center. He also appeared on the program's Million Dollar Celebrity Invitational that aired on December 17, 2009. Although defeated by Joshua Malina and Harry Shearer, he won a $25,000 charity prize in the name of Smile Train.

Public image

Meloni has appeared in many public service announcements in support of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender issues. In 1999, Meloni jokingly kissed Lee Tergesen (who played Tobias Beecher, Meloni's on-screen boyfriend on ''Oz'') at an awards dinner for GLAAD. In 2006, Meloni was given the Human Rights Campaign's Equality Award, along with actor Jake Gyllenhaal and director Ang Lee, for his work on behalf of LGBT issues. In addition, in 2011, Meloni appeared in the Human Rights Campaign's "New Yorkers for Marriage Equality" video.

Meloni was included in the 2006 edition of ''People'' magazine's Sexiest Men Alive.

Personal life

Meloni married Doris Sherman Meloni (née Williams), a production designer, on July 1, 1995. They have two children through surrogacy, a daughter born in March 2001 and a son born in January 2004. Mariska Hargitay, who co-starred with Meloni on ''Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'' and remains close friends with him, is the godmother to his daughter.

Meloni has three tattoos: a Cubist-inspired representation of the crucifixion of Christ on his upper left arm, a butterfly on his left upper thigh, and a Chinese astrological chart of his family on his right lower leg. In 2007, Meloni was inducted into his high school's athletic Hall of Fame as a member of the undefeated 1978 football team, for which he was quarterback.

In 2014, Meloni bought the house used in the television show ''The Adventures of Ozzie and Harriet''.

In 2021, on an episode of PBS' ''Finding Your Roots'', it was revealed that Meloni is a distant relative of Nancy Pelosi.

Filmography

Film

Television

Video games

Awards and nominations

References

External links

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Meloni, Christopher
1961 births
20th-century American male actors
21st-century American male actors
American male film actors
American male television actors
American male voice actors
American male video game actors
American people of French-Canadian descent
American people of Italian descent
American LGBTQ rights activists
Living people
Neighborhood Playhouse School of the Theatre alumni
Male actors from Alexandria, Virginia
Male actors from Philadelphia
University of Colorado Boulder alumni