Christopher Meloni

Christopher Meloni
Character Elliot Stabler
Date of birth April 2, 1961
Place of birth Washington D.C.
IMDb profile

Christopher Peter Meloni is an American Emmy Award-nominated actor best known for his role as Detective Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and as the bisexual serial killer Chris Keller on HBO's Oz.

Meloni also appeared in the Law & Order episodes "Entitled", "Fools For Love", and "Gimme Shelter"; and the Law & Order: Trial by Jury episode "Day".

He wears a fake tattoo of the U.S. Marine Corps emblem (the eagle, globe, and anchor) on his arm for his role in Special Victims Unit. ("Outcry" and "Underbelly") He has a real tattoo of a butterfly on his upper thigh, and a cubist representation of the crucifixion of Christ tattooed on his upper left arm.

From 1999 to 2003, Meloni appeared on Special Victims Unit and Oz simultaneously.

He is known for his role as Gene Jenkinson/Jonas Jurgenson in Wet Hot American Summer and it's sequels, Wet Hot American Summer: First Day of Camp and Wet Hot American Summer: Ten Years Later (with Michael Showalter, Bradley Cooper, Janeane Garofalo, Elizabeth Banks, Joe Lo Truglio, and Zak Orth).

Meloni lent his voice to the puppet character Spike in Dinosaurs (which guest-starred Ed Asner). Regarding animation, he voiced Green Lantern in Green Lantern: First Flight and Commissioner Jim Gordon (a character played by Mitch Pileggi in The Batman animated series and J.K. Simmons in the film Justice League) in the animated series Harley Quinn (with Tony Hale).

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

Meloni departed Law & Order: Special Victims Unit at the conclusion of the twelfth season as a result of unsuccessful contract negotiations.

In 2014, three years after he left SVU, Meloni played Dr. Jack Dunlevy on the short-lived Fox sitcom Surviving Jack, which was canceled after seven episodes. He also played as August Pullman in Underground from 2016 to 2017.

From 2017 to 2019, he recently played as Nick Sax in Syfy's comedy-crime drama series Happy! (with Ritchie Coster, Patrick Fischler, Gus Halper, Debi Mazar, Laura Poe, Ben Cole, Ashlie Atkinson, Daniel Sunjata, Curtis Armstrong, Donnetta Lavinia Grays, Lee R. Sellars, Ann-Margret, Victor La Mantia, Jeff Goldblum, Don Stephenson, Jordan Gelber, Wass Stevens, and Antonia Rey).

On March 31, 2020, NBC announced that it had ordered an initial 13-episode (later shortened to eight episodes due to the COVID-19 pandemic) series titled Law & Order: Organized Crime in which Meloni reprised his role as Elliot Stabler. Produced by Dick Wolf, the series centers around an organized crime task force with Stabler as a member of the force.

Meloni returned to SVU, making a guest appearance in the twenty-second season episode Return Of The Prodigal Son before the premiere of Law & Order: Organized Crime on April 1, 2021.

As of 2021, he portrays Elliot Stabler on Law & Order: Organized Crime, making regular crossover appearances on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

Trivia

• Meloni is one of five actors in SVU who also appeared in HBO's Oz, the other four being Dean Winters, B.D. Wong, Mike Doyle, Lance Reddick, and J.K. Simmons (another Oz regular, Kathryn Erbe, has starred on Law & Order: Criminal Intent since the show began in 2001 and Lee Tergesen, whose character was romantically involved with Meloni's character in the show, guest starred in Law & Order: SVU episode "Savior").
• Meloni made an appearance in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas as the sarcastic, gay front desk clerk during the police convention scene.
• Before starting his acting career, Meloni worked as a construction worker, bouncer, bartender, and personal trainer.
• He is married to production designer Doris Meloni (née Williams) and has two kids: daughter Sophia Eva (born on March 23, 2001), whose godmother is his longtime friend and co-star: Mariska Hargitay and son Dante Amadeo (born on January 2, 2004).
• Has a tattoo of a cubist 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.
• He won the second Law & Order themed game of Celebrity Jeopardy!, defeating Sam Waterston and Law & Order: Criminal Intent star Kathryn Erbe.
  • Meloni appeared again on Celebrity Jeopardy! during the Fall 2023 tournament. He lost in the quarterfinals to sports broadcaster Katie Nolan on a tiebreaker after both had $17,600 following Final Jeopardy. The third player, talk show host Sherri Shepherd, finished with $75.