Born April 12, 1961 in Washington D.C., Christopher Peter Meloni is an American actor best 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.
He is the youngest son of Robert, an endocrinologist, and Cecile Meloni, of Italian and French-Canadian parentage, he attended St. Stephen’s School and played quarterback for his high school team. Meloni is a typical and widely diffused Sardinian surname. Developing an interest in acting rather early in life, he attended the University of Colorado at Boulder following high school graduation. He initially majored in acting but wound up earning a degree in history in 1983. Acting won out in the long run, however, and Chris relocated to New York where he studied with acting guru Sanford Meisner at the renowned 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.
Christopher’s introduction to the Oz prison as sexy, bisexual psychopath Chris Keller was powerhouse casting and he drew immediate notice and critical applause into the show’s second season. Unflinching in its blood-soaked presentation of life behind bars, Chris’ raw animal magnetism was unparalleled on the show and his steamy, erotic couplings with another male prisoner on screen promoted him swiftly to gay icon status. Undaunted by the possible career-damaging effects that could occur, Chris’ frank acceptance and acknowledgment of the gay lifestyle was admirable indeed and his outright support of human rights causes earned him high marks.
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 Campaign’s 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.
The father of two (daughter Sophia Eva Pietra (born March 23, 2001), and son Dante Amadeo (born January 2, 2004), he has been married since 1995 to production designer ‘Sherman Williams’ (The Dark Backward (1991)).
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.
Christopher Meloni Photo Gallery
