Christopher Meloni

Christopher Meloni
Christopher Meloni in New York City, 2006
Born	Christopher Peter Meloni (1961-04-02) April 2, 1961 Washington, D.C., U.S.
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present
Spouse	Doris Williams
Children	2

Christopher Peter Meloni (born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is best known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz.

Early life

Meloni was born the youngest of three children in Washington, D.C., the son of Carol, a homemaker, and Robert Meloni, an endocrinologist. His maternal ancestry is French Canadian and his paternal ancestry is Sardinian. Meloni is a typical and widely diffused Sardinian surname. He attended St. Stephen's School (now St. Stephen's & St. Agnes School) and the University of Colorado at Boulder, where he first studied acting, graduating with a degree in history in 1983. After graduation, Meloni went to New York where he continued his studies with Sanford Meisner at the famed Neighborhood Playhouse.

Acting career

Meloni worked as a construction worker prior to getting his acting break. He has also worked as a bouncer, bartender, and personal trainer. Meloni worked his way up the acting ladder with commercials, short-lived TV series, and bit parts in a number of films. His first noticeable role was as the hotheaded son of a Mafia Don in the 1996 thriller Bound. He also appeared as Robbie Sinclair's friend Spike in Dinosaurs and Julia Roberts' fiance in Runaway Bride.

Meloni in Wilmington, North Carolina while filming Nights in Rodanthe

Oz

From 1998-2003, Meloni portrayed the bisexual criminal Chris Keller on the HBO series Oz; the role won him a great deal of media attention, particularly within the gay community, in which he is considered a sex symbol. Meloni has publicly stated when asked that he "embraces being a gay icon" and that he finds it "flattering". In 1999, he even jokingly kissed his onscreen partner Lee Tergesen (who played Tobias Beecher, Meloni's on-screen boyfriend on Oz) at an awards dinner for GLAAD.

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

Law & Order producer Dick Wolf, impressed by Meloni's acting abilities, signed him up for SVU in 1999, where he has remained ever since. From 1999 to 2003, he appeared on both shows simultaneously.

Meloni wears a fake tattoo of the United States Marine Corps emblem (the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor) on his arm for the role (as seen in Season 8, Episode 8, "Underbelly").

On July 6, 2006, Meloni was nominated for his first Emmy Award, in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for his role as Elliot Stabler.

He is currently working on the 12th season of SVU; despite reports this would be his last season with the show, Meloni has announced that he will not be departing the cast.

Other Work

He returned to his comedic roots when he portrayed the character "Gene" in Wet Hot American Summer in 2001, and the character of "Freakshow" (albeit in heavy make-up) in the 2004 comedy Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle. He would make another cameo in its sequel, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, as "The Grand Wizard".

In July 2009, Meloni portrayed renowned DC Comics character Hal Jordan/Green Lantern in the DC Universe Animated Original Movie Green Lantern: First Flight. He briefly appeared in the first episode of the Comedy Central series Michael & Michael Have Issues portraying himself for a fake movie starring Michael Ian Black and Michael Showalter.

Public Appearances

Meloni competed in the eighth series of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown, finishing in second place, behind Robin Tunney, and ahead of Macy Gray, Joy Behar, and Andy Dick. He played for Feed the Children. He also 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.

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

Personal life

Meloni is married to production designer Doris Meloni (née Williams) and they have two children, daughter Sophia Eva Meloni (b. March 23, 2000), and son Dante Meloni (b. January 2, 2004).. Mrs. Meloni did not love the name Dante, but Chris told her he would have the doctor knock her out if she did not agree. So she complied.

He has a real tattoo of cubist representation of the crucifixion of Christ tattooed on his upper left arm. He also has two other tattoos, a butterfly on his left upper thigh and a Chinese astrological chart of his family on his right lower leg. The edge of it can be seen in the L&O: SVU episode "Wildlife" when Elliot is sleeping on the couch.

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1994	Clean Slate	Bodyguard
1994	Junior	Mr. Lanzarotta
1995	12 Monkeys	Lt. Halperin
1996	Bound	Johnnie Marzzone
1997	The Small Hours	FL
1998	Brown's Requiem	Sgt. Cavanah	Uncredited Role
1998	Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas	Sven, Clerk at Flamingo Hotel
1998	The Souler Opposite	Barry Singer
1999	Carlo's Wake	Bennetto Torello
1999	Runaway Bride	Bob Kelly
2001	Wet Hot American Summer	Gene
2002	That Brief Moment	Ken	Short film
2004	Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle	Freakshow
2008	Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay	Grand Wizard	credited as "Reverend Clyde Stanky"
2008	Nights in Rodanthe	Jack Willis
2009	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men	R / Subject #3
2009	Carriers	Frank
2010	Green Lantern: First Flight	Hal Jordan/Green Lantern	Voice
2011	National Lampoon's Dirty Movie	Producer Charlie LaRue	Direct to video

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1989 -1990	1st & Ten	Vito Del Greco/Johnny Gunn	11 episodes
1990	When Will I Be Loved?	Ron Weston	TV film on NBC
1990 -1991	The Fanelli Boys	Frankie Fanelli	17 episodes
1991	In a Child's Name	Jerry Cimarelli	TV film on CBS
1991 -1994	Dinosaurs	Spike	11 episodes
1992	Something to Live for: The Alison Gertz Story	David	ABC television film
1993	Without a Kiss Goodbye	Ray Samuels	also known as Falsely Accused CBS television film
1993	The Boys	Doug Kirkfield
1993	Golden Gate	Douglas 'BW' Carlino	Unsold pilot
1995	A Dangerous Affair	Tommy Moretti	ABC television film
1995	Hope and Gloria	Billy	Episode: "Love with an Improper Stranger"
1995	Misery Loves Company	Mitch	8 episodes
1996 -1997	NYPD Blue	Jimmy Liery	5 episodes
1997	The Last Don	Boz Skannet	Miniseries
1997	Leaving L.A.	Reed Sims	6 episodes
1997	Every 9 Seconds	Richard Sutherland	NBC television film
1997	Brooklyn South	Joe	Episode: "Wild Irish Woes" Episode: "McMurder One" Episode: "Dublin or Nothin'
1998	Target Earth	Det. Samuel 'Sam' Adams	ABC television film
1998	Homicide: Life on the Street	Bounty Hunter Dennis Knoll	Episode: "Wanted Dead or Alive 1" Episode: "Wanted Dead or Alive 2"
1998 -2003	Oz	Chris Keller	38 episodes
1999	Shift	Louis	Television film
1999 -present	Law & Order: Special Victims Unit	Det. Elliot Stabler	Lead character
2000	Law & Order	Det. Elliot Stabler	Episode: "Entitled" Episode: "Fools For Love"
2002	Murder in Greenwich	Mark Fuhrman	Television film
2003	Scrubs	Dr. Dave Norris	Episode: "My White Whale"
2005	Wonder Showzen	Cooties Spokesman	Episode: "Health"
2005	Law & Order: Trial by Jury	Det. Elliot Stabler	Episode: "Day"
2008	Gym Teacher: The Movie	Dave Stewie	Nickelodeon television film
2009	Michael & Michael Have Issues		Episode: "Greg the Intern"

Awards and nominations

Emmy Awards

• 2006: Nominated, "Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series" - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

PRISM Awards

• 2004: Nominated, "Performance in a TV Drama Series Episode" - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit
• 2008: Nominated, "Performance in a TV Drama Series Episode" - Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

External links

• Christopher Meloni at IMDb