Christopher Meloni biography
Date of birth : 1961-04-02
Date of death : -
Birthplace : Washington, D.C., United States
Nationality : American
Category : Arts and Entertainment
Last modified : 2011-08-12
Credited as : Actor, series Oz, Law & Order
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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.
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.
From 1998-2003, Meloni portrayed the bisexual criminal Chris Keller on the HBO series Oz.
Law & Order producer Dick Wolf signed Meloni for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit in 1999. From 1999 to 2003, he appeared on both Oz and Law & Order: SVU simultaneously. In 2006 Meloni was nominated for an Emmy Award, in the category of Outstanding Lead Actor in a Drama Series, for his role as Elliot Stabler.
In 2011, Meloni announced that the 12th season of Special Victims Unit would be his last.
He returned to his comedic roots when he portrayed the character "Gene" in Wet Hot American Summer in 2001, the puppet-loving pediatrician Dr. Norris in a 2003 episode of Scrubs, 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.
On June 24, 2011, it was announced that Meloni is in negotiations to play a "major role" in the Superman reboot Man of Steel.
Meloni has appeared in many public service announcements in support of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender (GLBT) issues. In 1999, Meloni jokingly kissed Lee Tergesen (who played Tobias Beecher, Meloni's on-screen boyfriend on Oz) at an awards dinner for GLAAD. In 2006 Meloni was given the Human Rights Campaigns Equality Award, along with actor Jake Gyllenhaal and director Ang Lee, for his work on behalf of GLBT issues.
In 2004 and 2006 respectively, Meloni competed in both the fourth and the eighth series of Bravo's Celebrity Poker Showdown; in the eighth series he finished 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.
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).
He has a tattoo of a 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.
Filmography:
2010 : Green Lantern: First Flight
2011 : National Lampoon's Dirty Movie
2012 : The Lords of Salem
2013 : The Man of Steel
Television:
2005 : Law & Order: Trial by Jury
2008 : Gym Teacher: The Movie
2009 : Michael & Michael Have Issues
