EXCLUSIVE: Nearly 60 Years After Fatal Crash That Wiped Out Blonde Bombshell Jayne Mansfield Her Daughter Reveals Secrets of The Icon Only She Knew
Jayne Mansfield was more than just a blonde bombshell, according to her famous daughter.
June 18 2025, Published 1:00 p.m. ET
To the world, Jayne Mansfield was an actress and a sex symbol, but to her children, including Mariska Hargitay, she was so much more, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
In 1967, at just 34 years of age, Manfield's life was cut short after being involved in a fatal car crash and leaving behind five kids.
More Than Just A Sex Symbol
Mansfield was known as a sex symbol, who appeared to capitalize on Marilyn Monroe's popularity.
"Being a wife and mother is my life, and that's what gives me the most joy," Hargitay, who shares three kids with husband Peter Hermann, said. "I understand (my mother) in a new way that gives me peace."
While the blonde bombshell left her fans sweating, the Law and Order: SVU star revealed she was completely different at home.
She explained: "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.
The blonde bombshell left behind five kids in 1967 after she died in a fatal car crash.
"She was just so ahead of her time. She was an inspiration. She had this appetite for life, and I think I share that with her." Known as Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde," Mansfield not only could play numerous instruments, but she also spoke five languages: English, Spanish, French, German, and Italian.
Mansfield – born Vera Jayne Palmer – once joked that the public didn't care if she was smart, as she instead looked to capitalize on Marilyn Monroe's popularity, and imitated the iconic star's breathy voice.
Mandsfield is perhaps best known for her appearances in notable 50s films, including The Girl Can't Help It and The Wayward Bus, and the 1963 comedy, Promises! Promises!.
A Tragic Night
'She was an inspiration,' her famous daughter, Mariska Hargitay, said about her late mom.
However, the Hollywood star's life ended on June 28, 1967, as she, her attorney/companion, Sam Brody, and three of her children: Mickey Jr., Zoltan, and Hargitay took a drive in New Orleans after midnight in a 1966 Buick Electra 225.
The night took a turn when the car crashed at high speed into the rear of a tractor-trailer covered in fog, which had slowed down behind a truck spraying mosquito fogger. All three adults died instantly, while the sleeping kids in the rear seat survived.
Mansfield's death certificate noted her cause of death was a "crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain."
Hargitay, however, does not recall the crash and was only left with a scar on the side of her head.
"In some ways, being the daughter of a Hollywood icon has been a burden," she said. I used to hate constant references to my mom because I wanted to be known for myself."
"Losing my mother at such a young age is the scar of my soul," the TV star, who was 3 years old at the time of the crash, said.
She added her mother's death left a "hole in my life that won't ever be filled. I will never get over it. I will always be a girl who lost her mom."
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Hargitay was only 3 years old when her mother died.
Despite the pain she's suffered throughout her life, Hargitay does not feel robbed.
"I feel like it ultimately made me a better person," she explained. "I understand the journey of my life. I had to go through what I did to be here. She's with me still."
Hargitay will look into her mother's life further in the upcoming HBO documentary, My Mom Jayne, which is directed by the star and will drop on the streamer on June 27, 2025.
