Serena Benson

Serena Benson
Name	Serena Benson
Title	Professor
Affiliation	Hudson University
Division	English
Occupation	Teacher
Status	Deceased
Actor	Elizabeth Ashley
First Appearance	Payback

Serena Benson.(February 3 1944- December 10 2000) was an English professor at Columbia University, and the mother of Detective Olivia Benson from the Manhattan Special Victims Unit. She was one of the major inspirations for her daughter's joining that particular unit.

The only time audiences ever saw Serena was in "Payback". Olivia and Serena were having dinner. When Olivia started talking about the case she was working on, Serena expressed her concern about Olivia working in the Special Victims Unit. Serena also seemed to have accepted the fact that she was raped and that the rape produced a child.

VU: "BaIn 1967, while taking a shortcut home from the library, Serena was raped. Nobody was ever arrested for that rape, although Detective Conklin from the 55th Precinct suspected Carl Kutlack who was later convicted for a different rape.(Sd Blood") ^{[citation needed]}

In the episode "Haystack", Olivia runs her DNA through a kinship analysis and discovers she has a half brother. From Simon Marsden, she learns about the man who fathered her (SVU: "Philadelphia"). Simon's description of his father leads Olivia to doubt Serena's rape allegation but another one of his victims, Jane Willet-Marcus, confirmed that Joseph Hollister was a rapist. From Simon's mother Sharon Marsden, Olivia learned that Hollister knew about her and at least once called her house but Serena answered the phone. (SVU: "Florida")

When her daughter was 16, the two got into a fight after Olivia announced that she had accepted a proposal of marriage from one of Serena's students. An intoxicated Serena went after Olivia and Olivia kicked her into a wall, knocking her unconscious. Olivia retained the services of then-law student Simone Bryce to avoid jail. (SVU: "Intoxicated")

On December 10 2000, Ms. Benson came out of a bar called the Velvet Room and took a fatal tumble down the stairs. (SVU: "Taken", "Hammered") This was the first time Olivia stated her mother was an alcoholic.