Best known to millions of loyal “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” (NBC, 1999- ) viewers as Detective Olivia Benson, Mariska Hargitay was born into show business and paid her dues in both film and television before “S.V.U.” finally thrust her into the spotlight. A natural beauty, Hargitay rarely relied on her good genes – a combination of her mother, 1950s bombshell Jayne Mansfield, and father, famed bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay – instead, letting some element of her personal spirit come through in even her most lackluster projects. After a long road in failed sitcoms and forgettable films,
