Christopher Meloni

Christopher Meloni
Meloni at the 2012 San Diego Comic-Con International
Born	Christopher Peter Meloni (1961-04-02) April 2, 1961 (age 55) Washington, D.C., United States
Residence	Los Angeles, California
Nationality	American
Other names	Chris Meloni
Education	University of Colorado Boulder (1983) Neighborhood Playhouse
Occupation	Actor
Years active	1989–present
Spouse(s)	Doris Sherman Williams (m. 1995)
Children	2

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 police drama Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, 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.

His well-known 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.

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 (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.