Christopher Meloni

Emmy Award nominee Christopher Meloni debuted in the short lived series 1st & Ten in 1989. In his early career, he made several guest appearances in television shows and made for television movies. His first notable lead role was in the 1996 film Bound, which starred Jennifer Tilly. In 1998, Meloni's career skyrocketed when he was cast the role of a bisexual sociopath in the HBO series Oz. Meloni landed the lead role Detective Elliot Stabler starring opposite Mariska Hargitay in the highly successful crime series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.

1. "I didn't get into acting to be a public service announcer or an advocate and yet, by virtue of this show and how we handle the subject matter that we've been given, that's kind of how it's evolved in certain ways."
2. "A city like New York has clashing cultures and clashing ideas and big ideas, but these sorts of things weren't being thrown in the air and bandied about where I came from."
3. "When it's mid-February, and it's bitterly cold outside, I am really glad that I'm not working in construction anymore."
4. "All aspects of life that I look around, I'm very thankful to be standing where I am."

• Note: The majority of the links in this timeline are to IMDb, which has pop-ups.

• April 2, 1961: Born

• 1996: NYPD Blue

• 1997: Brooklyn South

• 1997: Every 9 Seconds

• 1997: Leaving L.A.

• 1997: The Last Don

• 1998: Scrubs

• 1998: Homicide: Life on the Street

• 1998: The Souler Opposite

• 1998: Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas

• 1998: Target Earth

• 1998: Brown's Requiem

• 1999: Law & Order: Special Victims Unit

• 1999: Runaway Bride

• 1999: Shift

• 1999: Carlo's Wake

• 2000: Law & Order

• 2001: Wet Hot American Summer

• 2002: Murder in Greenwich

• 2002: That Brief Moment

• 2004: Harold & Kumar Go to White Castle

• 2005: Law & Order: Trial by Jury

• 2005: Wonder Showzen

• 2007: Brief Interviews with Hideous Men

• 2007: Carriers

• 2008: Nights in Rodanthe

• 2008: Harold & Kumar 2