Jayne Mansfield was a well-known singer, actress, nightclub performer, and Playboy playmate from the United States.
She became famous in the 1950s. She was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933. People thought of her as the most famous s*x symbol of the 1950s and 1960s because she was in a number of big hits, like Johnny Promises! Promises!, The Girl Can’t Help It, The Wayward Bus, Too Hot to Handle, Female Jungle, The Love of Hercules, Kiss ’em for Me, and The Jayne Mansfield Story.
Because of the roles she played in movies, Mansfield was also sometimes called “the poor man’s Marilyn Monroe.”
She got married thrice in her life. The first time was in 1950 when she was 16 and married Paul Mansfield. After getting married, the two went to Southern Methodist University to study acting.
Mansfield’s daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield, was born a year after her first marriage. At the time, she was 17.
Paul and I had a rough time,
she told May Mann.
I peddled photo albums door-to-door, and he took odd jobs, swept floors, and sold magazines. […] Many times, I would have to take Jayne Marie […] to classes with me.
Paul went to a summer camp, so Jayne left her daughter with her parents and went to the University of California to study drama.
I had been to three different universities and two or three dramatic schools before I went to Hollywood, preparing myself for my hoped career as an actress. I did a soliloquy for Joan of Arc for Milton Lewis, who was head of casting at Paramount Studios, in order to audition. And he seemed to think I was wasting my “obvious talents.”
He lightened my hair and tightened my dresses, and this is the result,
she said in one of her interviews, referring to her looks similar to Monroe.
Mansfield couldn’t balance her personal and professional life because she was trying to be as famous as Marilyn Monroe, who was a Hollywood star at the time. In 1955, her marriage to Paul ended because she was too busy trying to be like Marilyn.
Jayne married Mickey Hargitay in 1958, and they had three children together. Mariska Hargitay (her star child), Zoltan Hargitay, and Mickey Hargitay Jr.
They were together for almost six years until Mickey divorced Jayne in 1964 because she was said to have had an affair with President John F. Kennedy.
Mansfield also got married for the third and last time. She exchanged vows with the director, Matt Cimber. But the marriage didn’t last long, and in 1966, they split up.
In June of 1967, a car accident took the life of the mother of five.
Mariska Hargitay, her 3-year-old daughter, was also in a car accident, but she was not hurt at all.
After Jayne died, Mickey married actress Ellen Siano, who helped Mariska Hargitay and her siblings get over the loss of their mother and helped keep the family financially stable.
Mariska Hargitay didn’t know she loved acting until she was in college. So, when she got into UCLA, she studied theater. In 1984, she got a part in a movie.
Mariska Hargitay’s first job in the entertainment industry was in 1984 when she was in a music video called “She Loves My Car.”
After playing a few small roles, Mariska Hargitay became well-known for her part in the TV show ER in 1994.
Ghoulies, Jocks, Lake Placid, The Perfect Weapon, Blind Side, I Am Evidence, Mr. Universe, Plain Truth, Welcome to 18, and Leaving Las Vegas are some of her most famous works.
In 1999, she joined the cast of “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” on NBC and played the role of Olivia. This was her big break, and she became one of Hollywood’s highest-paid actresses.
For her great work on the show, the actress won a number of awards, including a Golden Globe and a Primetime Emmy.
In an interview with Closer, Mariska Hargitay said that at the beginning of her career, she hated hearing people talk about her late mother all the time because she wanted to be known for her work.
I used to hate constant references to my mom because I wanted to be known for myself.
Mariska Hargitay told Redbook in another interview in 2009 that Jayne’s tragic death had left a mark on her soul.
Losing my mother at such an early age is the scar of my soul. But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today. I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I did to be here.
