69 Facts About Elliot Stabler

Elliot Stabler joined the NYPD in 1986 and was promoted to detective in 1989, In show continuity, Stabler became a detective with SVU in 1992.

Elliot Stabler is dedicated to his job but often takes cases personally, thus affecting his judgment.

In 2002 Elliot Stabler stated that he makes $68,000 a year.

Elliot Stabler is devoted to his family and frequently mentions or thinks about them while working cases.

Elliot Stabler is a practicing Catholic whose faith, sometimes, is tested by the cases on which he works.

Elliot Stabler was born on October 20,1966, and raised in Bayside, Queens.

Elliot Stabler had a difficult relationship with his father, who was physically and emotionally abusive.

Elliot Stabler has two brothers, Randall and Joseph Jr.

Elliot Stabler attended Bayside High School, where he played on the football team.

Elliot Stabler is a Marine and served in Operation Desert Storm.

Elliot Stabler has three tattoos, notably the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor tattoo on his forearm, and the crucifixion of Christ on his left bicep.

Elliot Stabler is often openly aggressive and intimidating toward suspects, which can either complicate the case further or lead to speedy confessions.

One such instance occurs in a case involving serial killer Gordon Rickett, whom Elliot Stabler had investigated for raping and murdering a young girl 14 years earlier and had thrown through a plate glass window.

Elliot Stabler eventually opens up to Hendrix about his personal demons, and they become close until Hendrix is transferred.

Benson is confident that Elliot Stabler will "tell them to go to hell", and he proves her right by retiring from the force off-screen during the SVU Season 13 premiere.

Elliot Stabler appears in the Season 22 episode "Return of the Prodigal Son", having been absent from the series for 10 years.

Elliot Stabler comes back to New York to attend a ceremony honoring Benson, whom he has not seen or spoken to since leaving SVU.

Elliot Stabler is targeted by mobsters who plant a bomb in his rental car, but it ends up killing Kathy instead.

Elliot Stabler is devastated, but determined to bring her killers to justice, and joins the NYPD's new Organized Crime Control Bureau.

Elliot Stabler comes to suspect that gangster Richard Wheatley ordered the bombing because Stabler was investigating him and his father, mob boss Manfredi Sinatra.

Angela then promises to help Elliot Stabler put Wheatley in prison.

Elliot Stabler is assigned to infiltrate the Kosta Organization, an Albanian crime family; posing as ex-con Eddie Wagner, he becomes bodyguard to Reggie Bogdani, a soldier for Don Jon Kosta.

Elliot Stabler goes to Benson's apartment in a panic, and she sends him to Bell's house to sleep it off.

Elliot Stabler finds out that Briscu is closeted, and murdered his male lover to keep from being outed.

Briscu threatens to kill Elliot Stabler to keep him quiet, but Elliot Stabler assures Briscu that his secret is safe with him.

Briscu's wife Flutura is attracted to Elliot Stabler, who plays along in order to get closer into the Kosta Organization.

Wheatley's lawyer, Rafael Barba, who was once the Assistant District Attorney for SVU, accuses Elliot Stabler of framing Wheatley for Kathy's murder.

Elliot Stabler feigns out-of-control anger on the witness stand in order to be cited for contempt of court and thrown out of the courtroom so he can be alone with Wheatley.

Elliot Stabler then pretends to go on a romantic date with Angela knowing full well that Wheatley is spying on them; as intended, this sends Wheatley into a jealous rage.

Elliot Stabler then reveals that he has kidnapped Bernadette, and will kill her unless Stabler makes his "confession".

Elliot Stabler refuses to absolve Wheatley of Kathy's murder and manages to rescue his mother.

Elliot Stabler tells her that Wheatley murdered Richie, which provokes her to deliberately crash her car into the ocean, with her and Wheatley inside.

Meanwhile, Elliot Stabler uncovers evidence suggesting that his late father faked the shooting that led to him being awarded the NYPD's Combat Cross medal and framed an innocent man.

Elliot Stabler confronts Hanson, who gets back at him by telling Donnelly that Elliot Stabler is working undercover to bring down the Brotherhood.

Elliot Stabler is then awarded the Combat Cross, but still apologizes to the father of the man that his father framed.

Elliot Stabler then uses the assistance of his confidential informant, Vince, to take down the culprit, Mark Sirenko.

Elliot Stabler then investigates the shooting of Jennifer Lee and develops a close relationship with her husband Stephen, bonding over their grief for their wives.

Elliot Stabler discovers that Lee's campaign manager, Michael Quan, is the leader of a human trafficking ring and is responsible for Jennifer's shooting.

Elliot Stabler manages to find Wen's son and arrest Quan with the help of his task force.

Elliot Stabler married his wife, Kathy when they were both 17 years old, and at the beginning of the series, they have four school-aged children: Maureen, Kathleen, and twins Richard "Dickie", and Elizabeth "Lizzie".

Richard Finley, Elliot Stabler's former commanding officer in the Marines, whom Elliot Stabler later arrests after discovering that he murdered a woman.

Elliot Stabler is later arrested for breaking and entering and robbery, at which time doctors and her family realize that she suffers from bipolar disorder, which is a condition she shares with her paternal grandmother, Bernadette.

When she faces prison time, Elliot Stabler reaches out to his mother for the first time in three years and asks her to tell Kathleen about her illness so she will get help.

Elliot Stabler refuses to sign a parental consent form for Dickie to join the Army, but resolves to be a more attentive parent.

Elliot Stabler is fiercely protective of his children and becomes defensive if a suspect asks about his family; it is suggested that he sees aspects of his children in every victim.

Elliot Stabler has occasionally seen aspects of himself in a child abuser; during one case, the actions of an abusive parent prompt him to recall an incident in which he lost his temper and raised a hand to his daughter Maureen, who was a toddler at the time.

Elliot Stabler's death leads Stabler to join the Organized Crime Control Bureau.

Elliot Stabler sees that her illness is worsening, and takes her in to live with him and Eli, with Kathleen occasionally checking in.

When Eli is charged in the death of a girl he had been partying with, Elliot Stabler asks Slootmaekers to find out everything she can about the victim.

Darman develops real feelings for Bernadette, but unwittingly helps Wheatley kidnap her and hold her hostage as part of his master plan to force Elliot Stabler to make a false confession to framing him for Kathy's murder.

Elliot Stabler manages to save Bernadette and has Darman arrested.

In season 2, Elliot Stabler discovers that his late father's Combat Cross, which he was awarded after supposedly saving his partner Gus Hansen's life, was obtained under false pretenses; the elder Elliot Stabler had in fact covered up for Hansen after the latter shot and killed an unarmed child by having his partner shoot him the leg to make it look like the child had opened fire on them.

Elliot Stabler is partnered with Olivia Benson for SVUs first 12 seasons.

Elliot Stabler is Benson's longest relationship with a man, and they have even each promised to give the other a kidney should either of them need a transplant.

For example, during a case in which three women are charged with raping a male stripper, Benson and ADA Alexandra Cabot believe the man's story, while Elliot Stabler takes a cynical view of his claim from the start.

Benson and Elliot Stabler are separated at times during the show.

Benson and Elliot Stabler become partners again in the eighth season.

When Elliot Stabler's car is bombed and his wife Kathy severely injured, Benson, now SVU's Captain, has to restrain him from getting involved in the investigation.

Benson recognizes that Elliot Stabler is showing signs of PTSD, and tries unsuccessfully to persuade him to get help, even staging an intervention with his children.

Elliot Stabler rejects her help, but tells her he loves her.

Elliot Stabler is assigned a temporary partner named Dani Beck while Benson is working undercover in Oregon.

The relationship doesn't go further as Elliot Stabler realizes that he still loves his wife; Beck, meanwhile, leaves SVU when she realizes that she will not be able to save every victim.

Elliot Stabler is appointed by District Attorney Jack McCoy to be the new ADA for the SVU squad during a four-episode run in Season 11.

Elliot Stabler reveals that he has not seen her for 15 years when she first arrives as the new ADA.

Elliot Stabler was diagnosed with an "aggressive" type of breast cancer and had a bilateral radical mastectomy a year before joining the SVU squad.

In "Do or Die", Elliot Stabler is awarded the New York City Police Department Combat Cross for his actions in taking down the Marcy Killers and the Brotherhood.

The Elliot Stabler character was written out of the show.

Elliot Stabler returned in the Special Victims Unit episode "Return of the Prodigal Son", when his wife, Kathy, is killed in a car bombing.

Elliot Stabler's death leads Stabler to reach out to Benson to help find her killers.