Tuesday, January 23, 2024

January 23rd, 1964

60 YEARS AGO TODAY:

1/23/64 – Actress Mariska Hargity is born

The long-time Law And Order: SVU Actress was the daughter of blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield and Bodybuilder (and former Mr. Universe) Mickey Hargity.

Mansfield was one half of the pin-up duo of (Marilyn) Monroe and Mansfield, the powerhouse buxom equivalent of Mantle and Maris of the '61 New York Yankees.  (3 1/2 year old Mariska was asleep in the backseat of the vehicle that killed her mother, her mother's boyfriend and the driver in a tragic automobile accident in 1967.)

Her first professional acting gig was in the music video for Ronnie Milsap's "I Love My Car" in 1984, the first country music video to ever appear on MTV. (She had previously won the title of Miss Beverly Hills in 1982.)

She landed the role of Olivia Benson in Law and Order: SVU in 1999 ... and has played the character ever since.

DIDJAKNOW?: In the "show within a show" episode "The Pilot" on Seinfeld, Hargity read for the role of Elaine Benes ... a role she ACTUALLY auditioned for before the series was cast four years earlier!