It’s difficult to remember a time when Mariska Hargitay wasn’t embodying the role of Olivia Benson on the NBC drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Her long tenure on the show makes it easy for viewers to feel like they know her well, yet many are unaware of her background and her famous mother. Here’s a deeper look into her family’s tragic history, her age, and her ethnicity.
Mariska Hargitay’s Age and Ethnicity
Mariska Magdolna Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964, in Santa Monica, California, to Mickey Hargitay and Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield. Her father, a bodybuilder and former Mr. Universe, hailed from Hungary and gave his daughter her distinctly Hungarian first and middle names. Her mother had German and English ancestry. Shortly after Hargitay’s birth, her parents separated, and tragedy struck when she was just three years old.
In 1967, while traveling from Biloxi, Mississippi, to New Orleans, Hargitay, her two brothers, her mother, her mother’s boyfriend, and their driver were involved in a car accident. Their vehicle collided with a tractor-trailer, killing Mansfield and the two adults in the front seat. Miraculously, the three children in the backseat, including Mariska, survived with minor injuries.
Reflecting on her experience, Hargitay told People, “The way I’ve lived with loss is to lean into it. As the saying goes, the only way out is through. In my life, I’ve tried to avoid pain, loss, feeling things. But I’ve learned to really lean into it, because sooner or later you have to pay the piper. … I’m not saying it’s easy, and it certainly hasn’t been for me. There’s been a lot of darkness. But on the other side, things can be so bright.” She added, “Someone once said about [remembering] my mother: ‘All you have to do is look in the mirror.’ She’s with me still.”
Mariska Hargitay’s Marriage and Children
Hargitay is married to Younger star Peter Hermann, whom she met on the set of Law & Order: SVU in 2001. She recalled trying to break the ice with a joke that didn’t land, but a few months later, during a conversation about religion, Hermann invited her to church. Hargitay said she knew then that he was the one. They married in 2004 at the Unitarian Historical Chapel in Santa Barbara, California.
The couple has three children: their first child, August Miklós Friedrich, was born in 2006 when Hargitay was 42. Five years later, they adopted a baby girl, Amaya Josephine, and a boy named Andrew Nicolas.
Mariska Hargitay’s Net Worth
According to Celebrity Net Worth, Hargitay earns an impressive $450,000 per episode for her role on SVU, with an estimated net worth of $50 million. Her husband, Peter Hermann, is worth an estimated $10 million, bringing their combined net worth to $60 million.
Mariska Hargitay’s journey from a tragic childhood to becoming one of television’s most beloved stars is a testament to her resilience and talent. Her enduring success and personal happiness with her family only add to her remarkable story.
