Mariska Hargitay Reveals Heart-Wrenching Detail of Jayne Mansfield’s Fatal Crash
SHOCKING TRUTH ABOUT MARISKA HARGITAY'S TURBULENT CHILDHOOD
In a jaw-dropping new documentary, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star Mariska Hargitay is spilling the beans about her childhood with Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield. The actress, who has struggled to come to terms with her mother's tragic death at just 34 years old, opens up about the traumatic events that shaped her early life.
Mansfield, a former Playboy Playmate and screen siren, was known for her saucy career and whirlwind love life, which included affairs with men as prominent as John F. Kennedy. But behind the glamour, her personal life was a hot mess, plagued by drinking problems and tumultuous relationships that left her children scarred.
Mariska, 61, who has spent decades processing the trauma of her childhood, reveals in My Mom Jayne, a documentary premiering at the Tribeca Festival, that she was left behind in the wreckage of the car accident that killed her mother and two other adults. Her siblings, Zoltan and Mickey Jr., were pulled to safety, but Mariska was found injured and wedged under a passenger seat.
"I often think about why she didn't just stay in the backseat with us?" Zoltan recalls in the documentary. "But I remember her comforting me, telling me I was going to be fine. Twenty minutes later, half an hour, I heard her scream so loud, and that was it."
The devastating crash occurred when Mariska was just three years old. Her mother had initially been sitting in the backseat with her children, but got into a heated argument with her boyfriend Sam Brody and moved to the front seat. The children were left asleep in the back of the car.
Mariska's biological father is revealed in the documentary to be Nelson Sardelli, who is still alive at 90 years old. Her mother was married three times, including to Mickey Hargitay, Mariska's stepfather, who raised her after Jayne's death.
Mansfield's life was marked by controversy and scandal, with rumors of affairs and a reputation for being a "wild child." But despite her tumultuous personal life, she remained a beloved sex symbol of the 1950s, starring in films like Promises! Promises! and Primitive Love.
In the years leading up to her death, Mansfield's career began to decline, and she became increasingly dependent on alcohol. Her personal life was marked by a series of high-profile affairs and marriages that ended in divorce.
Mariska has spoken publicly about the trauma she experienced as a child, saying that it gave her a "superpower" - the ability to process and transform pain into something positive. She has spent years trying to make sense of her mother's death and the events that led up to it.
"I think I learned about crisis very young," Mariska told Glamour in an interview. "And I learned very young that s* happens and there’s no guarantees, and we keep going. And then we transform it."
The documentary My Mom Jayne is a deeply personal and emotional exploration of Mariska's childhood and her mother's tragic death. It is a must-watch for fans of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit and anyone fascinated by the glamorous but troubled life of Jayne Mansfield.
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