EXCLUSIVE: The Mariska Hargitay You Never Knew — Including Her Brutal Confrontation With Biological Dad After Tragic Mom Jayne Mansfield's Affair
Mariska Hargitay's life is full of dark memories.
June 23 2025, Published 5:00 p.m. ET
Mariska Hargitay was left shell-shocked upon discovering the man who raised her for years wasn't her biological father, following her mom's Jayne Mansfield's affair, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
The Law & Order: SVU actress grew up believing Hungarian bodybuilder, Mickey Hargitay, was her dad, until she learned her actual father was a retired showman and singer by the name of Nelson Sardelli.
'He Was My Everything'
Mariska was an adult when she learned the man who raised her wasn't her biological father.
"It was like the floor fell out from underneath me, like my infrastructure dissolved," the TV star said of learning the truth.
Mariska was just 3 years old in 1967 when she survived a car accident that claimed her mother’s life, and the lives of Mansfield's attorney/companion, Sam Brody, and 19-year-old driver Ronald B. Harrison.
Following the tragedy, Mickey raised the couple’s three children.
Mansfield was married to Mickey Hargitay (above), but had an affair.
Mariska recalled: "He was my everything, my idol. He loved me so much, and I knew it. I also knew something else, I just didn’t know what I knew."
Mansfield, best known for her appearances in 50s films, including The Girl Can't Help It and The Wayward Bus, as well as the 1963 comedy, Promises! Promises!, had a brief affair with Sardelli, now 90 years old, amid a divorce from Mickey.
The two reconciled months before Mariska was born in January 1964, but they eventually split. According to Mariska, she always felt something was off between her and her siblings. And her world came tumbling down in her 20s, when her feelings were confirmed after seeing a photo of Sardelli.
Mariska Goes Off On Her Biological Father
Mariska confronted her biological dad, Nelson Sardelli, and channeled her 'Law & Order: SVU' character, Olivia Benson.
While she confronted Mickey, he denied it before passing away at the age of 80 in 2006. However, when she was 30 years old, Mariska saw Sardelli perform in Atlantic City and decided to speak to him.
"I've been waiting 30 years for this moment," Sardelli told Mariska after she introduced herself, but her reaction wasn't as pleasant as she recalled channeling her iconic TV character, Olivia Benson.
"I went full Olivia Benson on him," she said. "I was like, 'I don't need anything from you. I have a dad.'
"There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey."
Living A Lie
While getting the anger and hurt off her chest helped, Mariska admitted she has been struggling with "knowing I'm living a lie my entire life.
"I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me. I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter, that is not a lie."
Mariska will look more into her mother's life in the upcoming HBO documentary, My Mom Jayne, which is directed by the star and will drop on the streamer on June 27, 2025.
Losing her mother at a young age only left the actress with more questions, especially since she does not remember the fatal crash.
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Mansfield, who was known as a sex symbol, died in a fatal car crash when Mariska was 3 years old.
She said in the doc's preview: "In some ways, being the daughter of a Hollywood icon has been a burden. 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," Mariska, who still has a scar on her head from that night, continued.
Mariska 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."
