I've got the best of all worlds. It's every actor's dream to wake up in New York City and go to an acting job rather than to a restaurant to wash dirty dishes. And I live so close to the studios that I ride my bike to work.

He has also worked as a bouncer bartender and personal trainer. Charles R. Meloni worked his way up the acting ladder with commercials short-lived TV series and bit parts in a number of films.

He is 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. Christopher Peter Meloni (born April 2 1961) is an American actor.