Diane Neal facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Diane Neal
Neal at the 2012 Monte-Carlo Television Festival
Born	(1976-11-17) November 17, 1976 (age 48) Alexandria, Virginia, U.S.
Citizenship	Israel United States
Education	Harvard Extension School
Occupation	Actress model podcaster
Years active	2001–present
Notable credit(s)	Casey Novak on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Abigail Borin on NCIS
Spouse(s)	Marcus O. Fitzgerald ​ ​ (m. 2005; div. 2014)​

Diane Neal (born November 17, 1976) is an American actress. She is best known for portraying New York Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak in the television series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit from 2003 to 2012. She is also known for portraying Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) Special Agent Abigail Borin in the NCIS franchise.

Early life

Neal in 2008

Neal was born in Alexandria, Virginia, the youngest of three daughters to Colleen Neal, a math teacher, and Christopher Neal, a federal attorney. She was raised in Littleton, Douglas County, Colorado, and Ohio. After Neal graduated from Littleton's Heritage High School, she moved to Hawaii to attend college, but later left school to become a model and travel. Neal started modeling for Shiseido and Pond's skin-care ads. After deciding to resume her education, Neal began attending Harvard University's Extension School in 2009, and graduated with an associate degree in May 2018.

Career

Acting

Neal first appeared on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit as a guest star in the Season 3 episode "Ridicule". Neal first appeared as Assistant District Attorney Casey Novak in the show's fifth season, replacing Stephanie March, who played Alexandra Cabot.

Neal portrayed Novak through the end of Season 9, when the character exited the series. In 2011, Neal reprised her role as Novak in the Season 12 episode "Reparations", when Novak returned to SVU as their temporary ADA. After that appearance, she became a recurring character in Season 13. She was last seen in the episode "Valentine's Day". In 2021, Neal starred as Peggy Sue Thomas in the Lifetime movie Circle of Deception.

Congressional run

On February 6, 2018, Neal announced that she would run for the U.S. House of Representatives in New York's 19th congressional district as an independent. She described her political views as "a little libertarian, I'm a lot liberal, mostly progressive, but I have this amazing ability to be able to take really complicated policy and break it down into edible sound bites, which is something most progressive liberals cannot do." Neal finished with 1% of the vote.

Podcast

On January 14, 2022, Neal announced that she would be the host of a new comedy and talk podcast named "Hear Say with Diane Neal". The podcast is intended to "amuse and enlighten".

Personal life

In 2005, Neal married Irish model Marcus O. Fitzgerald in a ceremony in the Dominican Republic. Neal and Fitzgerald divorced in 2014.

Neal was later involved in a relationship with magician JB Benn.

In 2013, Neal was involved in a car accident which fractured her spine. In announcing her 2018 Congressional candidacy, Neal indicated that the long recuperation from her injuries had caused her to place her acting career on hold.

In 2023, Neal moved to Israel and became an Israeli citizen.

Filmography

Film

Television

See also

In Spanish: Diane Neal para niños