Law & Order: Special Victims Unit - Coerced - 01:45 am Friday, April 17 on 5USA

Christopher Meloni (Actor) .. Det Elliot Stabler

Born: April 02, 1961 in Washington, DC

Best Known For: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

Early-life: Christopher Peter Meloni was born on April 2, 1961, in Washington, DC. He's half-Italian, half-French-Canadian. His father is a doctor, his mother a housewife. He has a brother and a sister, and all are talented musicians and performers. After leaving school, Meloni studied acting at the University of Colorado in Boulder. He then moved to New York to work with famed teacher Sanford Meisner at the Neighborhood Playhouse. While waiting for his big break, Meloni made ends meet as a builder, barman and personal trainer.

Career: Despite having a regular role in TV series 1st & Ten in 1989, it took Meloni more than a decade to become a household name in the US. Before achieving fame, he made appearances in NYPD Blue, Brooklyn South, The Fanelli Boys, Junior, Twelve Monkeys and Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. His big break came in 1997 when he took a role in TV series Oz. His character, a vicious killer with a heart, was one of the most fascinating in the award-winning series. That led to parts in Runaway Bride and Law and Order: Special Victims Unit; he quit the latter in 2011 and says he has no plans to return. He's also appeared in movies Carlo's Wake, Wet Hot American Summer, That Brief Moment, Harold & Kumar Get the Munchies, Harold & Kumar Escape from Guantanamo Bay, and Nights in Rodanthe. He also spent a season playing the vampire Roman in True Blood.

Quote: 'When it's mid-February, and it's bitterly cold outside, I am really glad that I'm not working in construction anymore.'

Mariska Hargitay (Actor) .. Det Olivia Benson

Born: January 23, 1964 in Los Angeles

Best Known For: Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

Early-life: Mariska Magdolna Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964, in Los Angeles. Her mother was film star Jayne Mansfield, her father was the Hungarian bodybuilder-turned-actor Mickey Hargitay. She has two brothers and three half-siblings. On June 29, 1967, she was travelling in a car with her mother when their vehicle was involved in a road accident. Mansfield, their driver and another passenger were killed. Hargitay can't remember the incident, but she was left scarred. She was then raised by her father, and later studied acting at university, but dropped out before graduating.

Career: In 1982, Hargitay won the Miss Beverly Hills pageant. A year later, she first appeared in Falcon Crest, becoming a cast regular in 1988. She made her big-screen debut in 1985's Ghoulies. Various movies and TV series followed, including Downtown, Jocks, Baywatch, thirtysomething and The Advocate's Devil. Playing Dr Greene's love interest in several episodes of ER in the late 1990s finally got her noticed, and led to a starring role in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, which began in 1999, the same year she featured in box office hit Lake Placid. It's rumoured that she is paid in the region of $400,000 to $500,000 per episode for Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, making her one of US TV's best-paid stars.

Quote: On working on Law & Order SVU: 'There's the occasional script that just hammers you, that you can't shower off.'

Trivia: She can speak five languages.

Richard Belzer (Actor) .. Det John Munch

Ice-T (Actor) .. Det Odafin `Fin" Tutuola

Born: February 16, 1958 in New Jersey

Best Known For: His music career.

Early-life: Born Tracy Marrow on February 16, 1958, in Newark, New Jersey. He called himself Ice-T in homage to Iceberg Slim, a pimp-turned-author who wrote hard-hitting novels about the criminal underworld. He grew up in the tough South Central neighbourhood of Los Angeles and began rapping while in his teens. After leaving high school, and following a spell in the US Army, he decided to concentrate on a music career. Several early singles failed to bring him international acclaim.

Career: In 1987, Ice-T was snapped up by a major record label who released his album Rhyme Pays and its 1988 follow-up Power, which were hugely successful. A year later, he released the book The Iceberg/Freedom of Speech... Just Watch What You Say, which focused on censorship in music. He continues to record albums, both as a solo artist and as part of rock group Body Count. His acting debut came in 1984's Breakin', but hits such as New Jack City, The Heist and 3,000 Miles to Graceland, as well as TV series Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, have made him a sought-after star.

Quote: 'Los Angeles is a microcosm of the United States. If LA falls, the country falls.'

Trivia: He hosts the Ice-T: Final Level podcast.

Diane Neal (Actor) .. ADA Casey Novak

BD Wong (Actor) .. Dr George Huang

Dann Florek (Actor) .. Capt Donald Cragen

Born: May 01, 1950 in Flat Rock, Michigan

Best Known For: Playing Capt Donald Cragen in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.

Early-life: Born Ezekial Dann Florek on May 1, 1950, in Flat Rock, Michigan. His younger brother, Dave, is also an actor and has appeared in such productions as Hidalgo, Grace Under Fire and Ghostbusters II. Florek studied maths and physics at East Michigan University, but his participation in the campus choir led him to be offered a drama scholarship, which he snapped up. He later joined the prestigious Acting Company at Juilliard School in New York.

Career: Florek started his professional career on stage in the Big Apple before heading west to theatres in San Diego and La Jolla. He made his TV debut in 1982's The Country Girl, and his first film, Eddie Macon's Run, was released a year later. He became a star in 1988 thanks to a role in LA Law, but quit to take part in Law and Order in 1990. The actor spent three years with the show, but later reprised his role as Cragen in spin-off Special Victims Unit in 1999. Florek has also appeared in the films Angel Heart, Sweet Liberty and Hard Rain.

Quote: On his dramatic career change from science to showbusiness: "I thought, hey, maybe it'll be more fun than synthetic projective geometry."

Trivia: He divides his time between New York and Los Angeles.

Leland Orser (Actor) .. Kevin Walker

Beverly D'Angelo (Actor) .. Rebecca Balthus

Born: November 15, 1951 in Columbus, Ohio

Best Known For: Playing Ellen Griswold in National Lampoon's Vacation and three sequels.

Early-life: Beverly Heather D'Angelo was born on November 15, 1951. Her father Gene was General Manager of a TV station in their home state of Ohio, her mother was an amateur violinist and her brother Jeff is a musician. She studied visual arts and was an exchange student in Italy, and studied opera with Edward Johnson, ex-director of New York's Metropolitan Opera, before joining the Hanna-Barbera studios as a cartoonist. She got her acting break in the 1976 TV series Captains and the Kings.

Career: D'Angelo hasn't been out of work since that first job. She steadily built up her profile, but the 1980 drama Coal Miner's Daughter, in which she sang all the songs, propelled her into superstardom. She gained more acclaim with the 1984 production of A Streetcar Named Desire. Over the years, the actress has created an eclectic CV of film roles, including the National Lampoon Vacation films, Lansky and Women in Film. Her small screen credits include Frasier, The Simpsons and Entourage.

Quote: "To become a star is the beginning of the end. I don't really want to be saddled with a screen persona."

Trivia: D'Angelo is an accomplished and respected singer.

James McCaffrey (Actor) .. Peter Forbes

Christina Kirk (Actor) .. Julia Walker

Kate Hodge (Actor) .. Carolyn Forbes

Dick Wolf (Executive producer)

Ted Kotcheff (Executive producer)

Neal Baer (Executive producer)

Peter Jankowski (Executive producer)

Jean de Segonzac (Director)

Jonathan Greene (Writer)

Law & Order: Special Victims Unit: Coerced

01:45 am - 02:40 am, Friday, April 17 on 5USA (21)

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Coerced
Season 5, Episode 6

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