Legendary Hollywood star Jayne Mansfield rose to fame in the 1950s after starring in films such as “The Girl Can’t Help It” and “The Wayward Bus.” It was not just her acting that propelled her to stardom though, but her dazzling good looks and alluring charm.
Mansfield’s strong genes and acting prowess have clearly been passed on to her daughter, Mariska Hargitay, who greatly resembles her mother and also has a natural talent for acting too. First, let’s take a look at Mansfield’s life.
Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Inspired by Shirley Temple, Mansfield took acting and dance lessons and she also won various beauty contests which helped get her greater exposure.
In her early 20s, Mansfield’s career finally took off when she was given a part in the low-budget film “Female Jungle” in 1955. The coverage she received for this film saw her get selected to be on the cover of Playboy magazine and also be that February’s Playmate of the Month. This helped her secure a long and close relationship with Hugh Hefner’s publication and helped launch Mansfield’s career in both acting and modeling.
Mansfield became a sex symbol but she was also praised highly for her acting. She received a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Newcomer for “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” in 1957. She continued to have roles in films such as “The Burglar” and “Too Hot to Handle,” but couldn’t shake off her label as “the poor man’s Marilyn Monroe.”
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Tragically, Mansfield’s life was cut short when in 1967 she died in a car accident when she was just 34 years old. She had been driving to New Orleans from a nightclub appearance in Mississippi and was killed when her vehicle collided with the trailer of a tractor.
What’s more, three of Mansfield’s children were in the car with her, including her daughter Mariska and two of her sons Miklós (Mickey Jr.) and Zoltán Hargitay. Luckily, all three children escaped with minor injuries. But there’s no doubt that it must have been incredibly traumatizing to witness the accident first-hand. Mansfield left behind five children: Zoltán, Mariska and Mickey Jr., Jayne Marie Mansfield and Tony Climber.
But Mariska survived the accident, and the grief, and has not let it ruin her life. Instead, she has taken her mother’s legacy and made it into her own. Born in Santa Monica, California, Mariska’s father was the Hungarian-born former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay, who passed away in 2006 at the age of 80. After the death of her mother, Mariska was raised by her father and his third wife, Ellen Siano, along with her siblings and half-siblings.
Mariska followed in her mother’s footsteps by entering into beauty pageants. She was crowned Miss Beverly Hills USA, and also competed in the Miss California USA competition. She later attended acting school before she went on to start her career.
She is best known for starring as Captain Olivia Benson on the NBC drama series “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.” It was in this role that Mariska’s strong resemblance to her mother became apparent. Even she herself brought it to light when she shared a beautiful photo of her face side by side with her mother.
Mariska, who is now 58 years old, told PEOPLE the resemblance to her mother is an honor and tribute to her, and that it helps her feel as if “she is still with me.” As she was only 3-years-old when the accident occurred she doesn’t remember the crash, but she does have a daily reminder of it: a zig-zag scar on the side of her head.
Decades later, and a lifetime without her mother, Mariska reminisced on her career in comparison to her mother’s. She said in the same interview:
“My mother was this amazing, beautiful glamorous sex symbol — but people didn’t know that she played the violin and had a 160 IQ and had five kids and loved dogs … She was an inspiration, she had this appetite for life, and I think I share that with her.”
After being compared to her mom for the majority of her life, she has now embraced the similarities. She said:
“Someone once said about (remembering) my mother: ‘All you have to do is look in the mirror.'”
The actress also opened up about how she has dealt with the loss of her mom all these years later. She told PEOPLE in the same interview:
“The way I’ve lived with loss is to lean into it … As the saying goes, the only way out is through. In my life, certainly I’ve tried to avoid pain, loss, feeling things. But I’ve learned instead to really lean into it, because sooner or later you have to pay the piper.”
Mariska added to PEOPLE:
“I’m not saying it’s easy, and it certainly hasn’t been for me … There’s been a lot of darkness. But on the other side things can be so bright.”
The actress remained very close to her father, who raised her and her siblings. He passed away in 2006 at the age of 80, and Mariska opened up about that loss too. She said:
“It was huge to lose this person who was my everything, my strength, my power, the person who believed in me … But I got to say goodbye, and I remember it was very calm, and he just looked at me and he said, ‘Mariska… Always.’ I was the most like him, and the gift that I got, in addition to being able to say goodbye, was knowing that he was in me.”
She added that she “carried his fire, the lessons that he taught me, his compassion, his love, his kindness.” While he is no longer around physically, she said that she does feel he is with her.
Nowadays, Mariska is happily married to actor Peter Hermann, who she met on the set of “Law & Order: SVU.” Together the couple has three children — two sons and a daughter — two of whom are adopted.
As well as her acting career and family life, Mariska is also the founder and former president of the Joyful Heart Foundation, a charity close to her heart that provides support to survivors of sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse.
Jayne Mansfield’s legacy lives on through her daughter, Mariska Hargitay. Do you think the pair look alike? Did you know about the family’s tragic story? Pass this on to others so they can read about it too.
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