Law And Order Star on Keeping his Marriage Fun and Drama-Free

The passionate detective has one solace: his four young children. And that is unfortunate, because his wife recently decided to divorce him. Never anybody’s idea of laid-back, he’s now in a permanent funk, a darker rage. His partner, Olivia Benson (Mariska Hargitay), can’t seem to help him. It was no surprise, late in the season, that one case unhinged him so totally his boss sent him home. Stabler was, finally, about to crack. Yes, Law & Order: S.V.U. is a TV series, not a reality show. Yes, what Christopher Meloni does so convincingly is called “acting.” But, although I knew all that, it was with a certain trepidation that I took a seat on the couch next to this tall, ultra-buffed, dark-browed guy and asked him about … his marriage.

Newsflash: Chris Meloni is nothing like Elliot Stabler.

His “how we met” story proves it.

The year was 1989. Meloni was in Los Angeles, acting in an HBO series he characterizes as “immensely forgettable.” The production designer, however, was memorable in the extreme.

Sherman Williams was in her 20s. She had short, bleached-white hair and cat’s-eye sunglasses. And she arrived astride a Harley—a female Billy Idol, Sharon Stone’s twin sister.