The Cast Of Law & Order: Who Are Their Significant Others In Real Life?

"Law & Order" set the template for the wave of hit procedural crime dramas that followed. Making its debut in 1990, the show enjoyed an extraordinary 20-season run while spawning several spinoffs — one of which, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," has run for even longer than the original. 

As a think piece about the franchise in Rolling Stone pointed out, series creator Dick Wolf recognized that the real money in a show like "Law & Order" came not from weekly ratings but syndicated reruns. Since there was no guarantee that episodes in syndication would run in the same order they did when originally broadcast, Wolf decided to keep the focus solely on the crime of the week, revealing next to nothing about the personal lives of the characters — thus omitting the potential syndication problem of serialized storylines that wouldn't make sense when seen out of order. 

While the characters on "Law & Order" may have kept their personal lives close to the vest, that hasn't necessarily been the case with the actors who played them. To find out more, read on to discover the answer to the question, the cast of "Law & Order:" Who are their significant others in real life?

Sam Waterston was one of the longest-serving cast members to appear on "Law & Order," playing prosecutor Jack McCoy for 16 seasons. That number of years, however, doesn't even come close to matching the longevity of his marriage to Lynn Woodruff, whom he wed in 1976. Waterston — who was then divorced from first wife Barbara Rutledge Johns — met the top fashion model in the summer of 1972, when he was starring in a Shakespeare in the Park production of "Much Ado About Nothing" in New York City. "This play has been a big deal in our lives," Waterston told the Baltimore Sun, revealing that Woodruff "came to that show a lot." 

Waterston and Woodruff are parents to four grown children, and have resided in Connecticut for decades. "By now it is really where our roots are mostly deeply set," Waterston shared in a 2019 interview with the Associated Press. "We bought the house in 1978, and it and the surroundings have grown on us. It is the place we have fixed up, built a teahouse, planted trees and have tinkered around for 41 years. We put on the gloves and had a big hand in making it our home."

For four seasons, Benjamin Bratt played Det. Reynaldo Curtis on "Law & Order," bidding farewell to the show in 1999. As Ranker pointed out, Bratt was a prolific dater in his younger years, and was involved in high-profile relationships with actresses Jennifer Esposito and Julia Roberts, and coupled with the latter from 1998 until 2001.

In 2001, Bratt was cast in the film "Pinero," in which he starred opposite actress Talisa Soto – whose career began as a Bond girl in the 1989 007 flick "License to Kill." Sparks flew on and off the set, and Bratt's dating days were done. "It started as a friendship, and little by little, they found they had something in common," Soto's pal, Nicky Corello, told People. In April 2002, Bratt and Soto were married.

That December, the newlyweds welcomed daughter Sophia. A few years later, their daughter was joined by a little brother, Mateo, born in October 2005. In an interview with People just ahead of their eighth wedding anniversary, Bratt still had stars in his eyes for Soto. "We're going on our eighth year of our marriage," he gushed, "and it feels like six months because we're so aligned."

Dan Florek became a "Law & Order" fan favorite for his portrayal of NYPD Capt. Dan Cragen, a character he then reprised in the spinoff, "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." While Cragen's personal life remained under wraps, Florek has been far more open about his. That includes his marriage to artist Karen Florek, his wife since 1993, according to Us Weekly. 

The Floreks — both Michigan natives — have candidly discussed their ongoing work with animal rescue. "Karen and I volunteer in Los Angeles for various animal shelters, working telethons and recording public service announcements, plus we foster dogs from time to time," Florek revealed in an interview with Michigan Humane.

Not only does the couple share their time as volunteers, they actually have several rescue dogs as pets — one of which, Florek revealed, he chased through traffic when he saw the stray animal attempt to board a bus. According to Florek, he tries to live his life guided by the philosophy, "I try to be the person my dog already thinks I am."

Angie Harmon is remembered by "Law & Order" fans for portraying assistant district attorney Abbie Carmichael, a role she later brought to "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit" before exiting the show. Harmon would eventually go on to even further fame when she starred alongside Sasha Alexander in the hit detective drama "Rizzoli and Isles."

In 2000, Harmon was appearing on "The Tonight Show" – alongside fellow guest Elton John, no less — when host Jay Leno invited her boyfriend, NFL cornerback Jason Sehorn, onto the stage. Sehorn immediately got down on one knee and surprised Harmon by popping the question on national television. As the Tampa Bay Times recalled, the couple subsequently got married and had three children before splitting up in 2014 after 13 years of marriage.

Harmon subsequently entered a relationship with "Days of Our Lives" star Greg Vaughan. On Christmas Day 2019, Harmon took to Instagram to announce their engagement, chronicled in a series of photos she shared in which Vaughan is seen getting down on one knee and proposing. 

Best known for his role as Tony Soprano's doomed nephew Christopher Moltisanti on "The Sopranos," Michael Imperioli subsequently joined "Law & Order," reported the Los Angeles Times in 2004. Imperioli's stint on the show as Det. Nick Falco, however, was never meant to be permanent; he was there on a temporary basis, filling in for star Jesse L. Martin while he reprised his role in the Broadway musical "Rent" for the 2005 film version. 

According to the Daily Mail, since 1995 the actor has been married to Russian-born wife Victoria, with Us Weekly reporting that the couple shares three children: Vadim, David and Isabella. Imperioli's wife was a set designer for film and television, reported Architectural Digest, before founding her own design firm with a partner, SVE New York. Meanwhile, the Architectural Digest feature on the couple showcased their home in NYC's Tribeca district, a former factory that they converted into a townhouse — which she of course designed. "This renovation took so long in part because I work intuitively and physically, not rationally, building up layers of feeling and listening to the architecture," she said, explaining her design process. 

British actor Linus Roache joined "Law & Order" in 2008 as E.A.D.A. Michael Cutter, who was eventually promoted to bureau chief when the character crossed over in a few episodes of "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit." While Cutter's personal life wasn't on display for viewers, in real life the actor is married to actress Rosalind Bennett. Interestingly enough, Bennett's first screen credit was on long-running British soap opera "Coronation Street," a show that has a deep association with her husband. That's because Roache's father, William Roache, has played the character of Ken Barlow on the show since its debut in 1960.  

In fact, when Roache and Bennett were married, a headline in the Manchester Evening News referred to the future "Law & Order" star not by his actual name but as "'Street star's son" in reporting the nuptials. According to the newspaper, the couple met while rehearsing a play in London. They eschewed a fancy church wedding, and were instead married at the Malvern Registration Office in Worcestershire. At the time, Bennett's mother, Rhona Bennett-Pointon, told the News, "I am a bit old-fashioned and to be honest I am delighted they have finally married."