Christopher Meloni

Christopher Peter Meloni (born April 2, 1961) is an American actor. He is known for his television roles as NYPD Detective Elliot Stabler on the NBC legal drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit for its first twelve seasons and as inmate Chris Keller on the HBO prison drama Oz. In June 2012, he returned to HBO, as the vampire Roman on the main cast of True Blood for the series\' fifth season. Meloni is currently starring in and is an executive producer of Happy!, based on the comic book series created by writer Grant Morrison and artist Darick Robertson. The series premiered on Syfy on December 6, 2017.\n', ' His films include Man of Steel, Wet Hot American Summer, Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle, 12 Monkeys, Runaway Bride, 42, and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.\n', ' Meloni was born in Washington, D.C., the youngest of three children (he has a brother and sister) of Cecile (née Chagnon; 1926–2016), a homemaker, and Charles Robert Meloni (1927–2012), an endocrinologist. His maternal ancestry is French Canadian and his paternal ancestry is Sardinian (from Italy). Meloni attended St. Stephen\'s School (now St. Stephen\'s & St. Agnes School) in Alexandria, Virginia, and played quarterback on the football team. He studied acting at the University of Colorado at Boulder and graduated with a degree in history in 1983. After graduation, Meloni went to New York where he continued his studies with Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse, as well as the Center for the Media Arts.\n', '