Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield
At the Jockeys' Ball in Los Angeles (1957)
Born	Vera Jayne Palmer (1933-04-19)April 19, 1933 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, United States
Died	June 29, 1967(1967-06-29) (aged 34) Slidell, Louisiana, United States
Occupation(s)	Actress, singer, model
Years active	1954–1967
Spouse(s)	Paul Mansfield ​ (m. 1950⁠–⁠1958)​ Miklós Hargitay ​ ​ (m. 1958⁠–⁠1964)​ Matt Cimber ​ (m. 1964⁠–⁠1966)​

Jayne Mansfield (née Palmer) (April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress working both on Broadway and in Hollywood. One of the leading blonde sex symbols of the 1950s, Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films that emphasized her platinum-blonde hair, hourglass figure and cleavage-revealing costumes.

While Mansfield's film career was short-lived, she had several box office successes. She won the Theatre World Award, a Golden Globe and a Golden Laurel. As the demand for blonde bombshells declined in the 1960s, Mansfield was relegated to low-budget film melodramas and comedies, but remained a popular celebrity.

In her later career she continued to attract large crowds in foreign countries and in lucrative and successful nightclub tours. Mansfield had been a Playboy Playmate of the Month and appeared in the magazine several additional times. She died in an automobile accident at age 34.

Early life

Jayne Mansfield
Playboy centerfold appearance
February 1955
Preceded by	Bettie Page
Succeeded by	Marilyn Waltz
Personal details
Height	5 ft 6 in (1.68 m) (5ft 8in according to her autopsy)

Jayne Mansfield was the only child of Herbert William and Vera (née Jeffrey) Palmer. Her birthname was Vera Jayne Palmer. A natural brunette, she was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, but spent her early childhood in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. She was of German and English ancestry. When she was three years old, her father, a lawyer who was in practice with future New Jersey governor Robert B. Meyner, died of a heart attack while driving a car with his wife and daughter. After his death, her mother worked as a school teacher. In 1939, when Vera Palmer remarried, the family moved to Dallas, Texas. Mansfield's desire to become an actress developed at an early age. In 1950, Vera Jayne Palmer married Paul Mansfield, thus becoming Jayne Mansfield, and the couple moved to Austin, Texas.

She studied dramatics at the University of Dallas and the University of Texas at Austin, having only attended Highland Park High School until her junior year. Her acting aspirations were temporarily put on hold with the birth of her first child, Jayne Marie Mansfield, on November 8, 1950, when Mansfield was 17. She juggled motherhood and classes at the University of Texas, then spent a year at Camp Gordon, Georgia, while Paul Mansfield served in the United States Army. She entered the Miss California contest, hiding her marital status, and won in the local round before withdrawing. Her husband, Paul Mansfield, hoped the birth of their child would discourage her interest in acting. When it did not, he agreed to move to Los Angeles in late 1954 to help further her career. In 1954, they moved to Los Angeles and she studied dramatics at UCLA. Between a variety of odd jobs, including a stint as a candy vendor at a movie theatre, she attended UCLA during the summer, and then went back to Texas for fall quarter at Southern Methodist University. She posed nude for the February 1955 issue of Playboy, a happening that helped to push the magazine's circulation and launch Mansfield's career. In 1964, Playboy reran that pictorial.

In Dallas, she became a student of actor Baruch Lumet, father of director Sidney Lumet and founder of the Dallas Institute of the Performing Arts. On October 22, 1953, she first appeared on stage in a production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman. Frequent references have been made to Mansfield's very high IQ, which she advertised as 163. She spoke five languages, and was a classically trained pianist and violinist. Mansfield admitted her public did not care about her brains. "They're more interested in 40-21-35," she said. While attending the University of Texas, she won several beauty contests, with titles that included "Miss Photoflash," "Miss Magnesium Lamp" and "Miss Fire Prevention Week." The only title she ever turned down was "Miss Roquefort Cheese", because she believed it "just didn't sound right." Early in her career, the prominence of her breasts was considered problematic, leading her to be cut from her first professional assignment, an advertising campaign for General Electric, which depicted several young women in bathing suits relaxing around a pool.

Film career

Mid 1950s

Mansfield's first movie role was as a supporting role as Candy Price in, Female Jungle, a low-budget drama, filmed in just ten days. Mansfield was paid $150 for her performance. The film was released in January of 1955, by producer, Burt Kaiser. In early 1955, Jayne was noticed by Warner Brothers and signed to a six month contract; Warner wanted Jayne to be the studio's Marilyn Monroe because Monroe was widely popular and made millions of dollars for 20th Century Fox. She was signed by the studio after one of its talent scouts discovered her in a production at the Pasadena Playhouse. Mansfield was then given a bit part in Pete Kelly's Blues, which starred Jack Webb. Soon after, Pete Kelly's Blues was released, Warner Brothers lent Jayne out to RKO to film a brief role in, Underwater!, starring Jane Russell. In this feature Mansfield wore a bikini by the pool; she was on screen for no more than two seconds. In 1955, Paul Wendkos offered her the dramatic role of Gladden in The Burglar, his film adaptation of David Goodis' novel. The film was done in film noir style, and Mansfield appeared alongside Dan Duryea and Martha Vickers. The Burglar was released two years later, when Mansfield's fame was at its peak. She was successful in this straight dramatic role, though most of her subsequent film appearances would be either comedic in nature or capitalize on her sex appeal. She made one more movie with Warner Brothers, which gave her another major and serious role as Angel O'Hara, opposite Edward G. Robinson, in Illegal. After leaving Warner Brothers, Mansfield filmed an uncredited cameo appearance in Hell on Frisco Bay, starring Alan Ladd and featuring Fay Wray.

Late 1950s

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In Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?

In 1955, she enjoyed a successful Broadway run acting in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. This wild comedy starred Mansfield as Rita Marlowe, a wild blonde Hollywood actress. The play also starred Orson Bean and Walter Matthau. Returning to Hollywood on May 3, 1956, Mansfield signed a six-year contract with 20th Century Fox. Fox had plans to mold Jayne as a Marilyn Monroe second, to threaten Monroe when she got out of line. The studio capitalized Jayne as, "Marilyn Monroe King Sized". Jayne was then given her first starring role as Jerri Jordan in the film production of Frank Tashlin's The Girl Can't Help It (1956). The film features some early performances from Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino, The Platters and Little Richard.

Jayne then played a straight dramatic role in The Wayward Bus in 1957. In this film, she attempted to move away from her "dumb blonde" image and establish herself as a serious actress. This film was adapted from John Steinbeck's novel, and the cast included Dan Dailey and Joan Collins. The film enjoyed reasonable success at the box office. She won a Golden Globe in 1957 for New Star Of The Year - Actress, beating Carroll Baker and Natalie Wood, for her performance as a "wistful derelict" in The Wayward Bus. It was "generally conceded to have been her best acting," according to The New York Times, in a fitful career hampered by her flamboyant image, distinctive voice ("a soft-voiced coo punctuated with squeals"), voluptuous figure, and limited acting range. Mansfield reprised her role of Rita Marlowe in the 1957 movie version of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, co-starring Tony Randall and Joan Blondell. The Girl Can't Help It and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? were popular successes in their day and are considered classics.

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With Cary Grant and Suzy Parker in Kiss Them for Me (1957)

Mansfield's fourth starring role in a Hollywood film was in Kiss Them for Me (1957) in which she received prominent billing alongside Cary Grant. However, in the film itself she is little more than comedy relief while Grant's character shows a preference for a sleek, demure redhead portrayed by fashion model Suzy Parker. Kiss Them for Me was a box office disappointment and would prove to be her final starring role in a mainstream Hollywood studio film. The movie was described as "vapid" and "ill-advised". It was also one of the last attempts of 20th Century Fox to publicize her. The continuing publicity around her physical presence failed to sustain her career. Mansfield was then offered a part opposite Jack Lemmon in Bell, Book and Candle, but had to turn it down due to pregnancy. After turning the part down, Mansfield got word that her rival Kim Novak would replace her in the film. In 1958, Fox gave Jayne the lead role as Kate opposite Kenneth More in the western spoof, The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw. Despite being filmed in 1958, The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, wasn't released in the United States until 1959. The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw required Jayne to sing three songs; she wasn't a trained singer, therefore, the studio hired singer Connie Francis, to sing the numbers for her.

1960s

Despite the publicity and her public popularity, good film roles dried up for Mansfield after 1959. She kept busy in a series of low-budget films, mostly made in Europe. Fox tried to cast Mansfield opposite Paul Newman in his ill-fated first attempt at comedy, Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys!, but Mansfield's Wayward Bus co-star Joan Collins was selected for the role. In 1959 Fox lent her to appear in two independent gangster thrillers in England. These were The Challenge, co-starring Anthony Quayle, and Too Hot to Handle , co-starring Christopher Lee. Both films were low-budget, and were delayed to be released in the United States; The Challenge wouldn't make it to the US until 1963, under the title, It Takes a Thief, and, Too Hot to Handle, wouldn't be released in the US until 1961, under the title, Playgirl After Dark. Returning to Hollywood in mid-1960, 20th Century Fox, cast Jayne in, It Happened in Athens. Jayne is credited with first billing above the title but only appears in a supporting role. It Happened in Athens starred a handsome newcomer, Trax Colton. The Olympic-based film was shot in Greece, in the fall of 1960, but wasn't released until 1962.

In 1961, Jayne signed on to play Lisa Lang in, The George Raft Story, starring, Ray Danton. Jayne accepted the part mainly for the money, and for the fact that the film was going to be filmed in Hollywood, rather in Europe. Soon after the release of, The George Raft Story, Jayne returned to Europe to find work. In 1962, Jayne accepted a co-starring role in, Let's Go Bust, with Eleanor Parker. The feature was shot on a shoe string budget, and wouldn't be released until 1964, under the title Panic Button.

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In Promises! Promises!, the first Hollywood motion picture with sound to feature a mainstream star in the nude

In 1963, Tommy Noonan persuaded Mansfield to become the first mainstream American actress to appear nude with a starring role in the film Promises! Promises!. Photographs of a naked Mansfield on the set were published in the June 1963 issue of Playboy, which resulted in obscenity charges being filed against Hugh Hefner in Chicago municipal court. Promises! Promises! was banned in Cleveland, but enjoyed box office success elsewhere. As a result of the film's success, Mansfield landed on the Top 10 list of Box Office Attractions for that year. The autobiographical book, Jayne Mansfield's Wild, Wild World, which she co-authored with her husband at the time, Mickey Hargitay, was published right after Promises! Promises! and contains 32 pages of black-and-white photographs from the film printed on glossy paper.

In 1963, Mansfield appeared in the low-budget West German movie Heimweh nach St. Pauli with Austrian-born schlager singer Freddy Quinn. She played Evelyne, a sexy American singer who is traveling to Hamburg by ship and is followed by an Elvis-like American pop star played by Quinn. Mansfield sang two German songs in the movie, though her speaking voice was dubbed. In 1964, Mansfield was to film a role opposite her husband in Bloody Pit of Horror, but the two divorced before the filming began. Hargitay filmed his role, though Mansfield was replaced by another blonde.

In 1966, Mansfield was cast opposite Mamie Van Doren and Ferlin Husky in The Las Vegas Hillbillys, a low-budget comedy released by Woolner Brothers. Despite her career setbacks, Mansfield remained a highly visible personality through the early 1960s through her publicity antics and stage performances. In early 1967, Fox cast Mansfield in a cameo appearance in A Guide for the Married Man a comedy starring Walter Matthau, Robert Morse, and Inger Stevens. Mansfield received seventh billing in this movie. For her last film Single Room Furnished, Mansfield acted without make up and wore black wig to break out of the stereotype. This film was filmed in 1967 though not released until mid 1968.

Career outside film

Stage work

Mansfield acted on stage as well as in film. In 1955, she went to New York and appeared in a prominent role in the Broadway production of George Axelrod's comedy Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. The New York Times described the "commendable abandon" of her scantily clad rendition of Rita Marlowe in the play, "a platinum-pated movie siren with the wavy contours of Marilyn Monroe. In October 1957, Mansfield went on a 16-country tour of Europe for 20th Century Fox. She also appeared in stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Bus Stop, which were well reviewed and co-starred Hargitay.

Dissatisfied with her film roles, Mansfield and Hargitay headlined at the Dunes in Las Vegas in an act called The House of Love, for which the actress earned $35,000 a week. It proved to be such a hit that she extended her stay, and 20th Century Fox Records subsequently recorded the show for an album called Jayne Mansfield Busts Up Las Vegas, in 1962. With her film career floundering, she still commanded a salary of $8,000-$25,000 per week for her nightclub act. She traveled all over the world with it. In 1967, the year she died, Mansfield's time was split between nightclub performances and the production of her last film, Single Room Furnished, a low-budget production directed by then-husband Matt Cimber.

Recordings

In addition to singing in English and German in a number of films, in 1964, Mansfield released a novelty album called Jayne Mansfield: Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me, on which she recited Shakespeare's sonnets and poems by Marlowe, Browning, Wordsworth, and others against a background of Tchaikovsky's music. The album cover depicted a bouffant-coiffed Mansfield with lips pursed and breasts barely covered by a fur stole, posing between busts of the Russian composer and the Bard of Avon. The New York Times described the album as the actress reading "30-odd poems in a husky, urban, baby voice". The paper's reviewer went on to state that "Miss Mansfield is a lady with apparent charms, but reading poetry is not one of them."

Jimi Hendrix played bass and lead guitar for Mansfield in 1965 on two songs, "As The Clouds Drift By" and "Suey", released together on two sides. According to Hendrix historian Steven Roby (Black Gold: The Lost Archives Of Jimi Hendrix, Billboard Books) this collaboration happened because they shared the same manager.

Mansfield starred in film The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw and her character sang three songs on the film - "In The valley Of Love", "Strolling Down The Lane With Billy", and "If The San Francisco Hills Could Only Talk". These were only lip-synced by Mansfield. The singing voice was provided by Connie Francis. Of these three, only "In The Valley Of love" was released on record, albeit only in the United Kingdom and Japan.

Television

Though her acting roles were becoming marginalized, in 1964 Mansfield turned down the role of Ginger Grant in Gilligan's Island, claiming that the role, which eventually was given to Tina Louise, epitomized the stereotype she wished to rid herself of.

Mansfield toured with Bob Hope for the USO. She appeared in numerous television programs, including The Ed Sullivan Show and The Jack Benny Program (where she played the violin), The Steve Allen Show, Down You Go, The Match Game (one rare episode exists with her as a team captain), and The Jackie Gleason Show (in the mid-1960s when the show was the second highest rated in the US). Mansfield's television roles included appearances in Burke's Law and Alfred Hitchcock Presents.

On returning from New York to Hollywood, she made several television appearances, including several spots as a featured guest star on game shows. In 1962, Mansfield appeared with Brian Keith in ABC's Follow the Sun dramatic series in an acclaimed episode entitled "The Dumbest Blonde" in which her character "Scottie" is a beautiful blonde who feels insecure in the high society of her older boyfriend, played by Keith. The plot was based on the film of Born Yesterday.

Recognition

See also: Jayne Mansfield in popular culture

• In February 1955, Mansfield was the Playmate of the Month in Playboy, in which she subsequently appeared over 30 times.
• Although Mansfield was reluctant to appear in the play, she received the Theatre World Award of 1956 for her performance in the Broadway production of George Axelrod's comedy Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?.
• Mansfield won a Golden Globe in 1957 for New Star Of The Year - Actress
• Mansfield won a Golden Laurel in 1959 for Top Female Musical Performance for her role in The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, a western spoof directed by Raoul Walsh, although the songs were performed by Connie Francis.
• In 1963, Mansfield was voted one of the Top 10 Box Office Attractions by an organization of American theater owners for her performance in Promises! Promises!, a film banned in areas around the US.
• Mansfield has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6328 Hollywood Boulevard.

Personal life

Marriages and family

Mansfield was married three times, divorced twice, and had five children. Reportedly she also had affairs and sexual encounters with numerous individuals, including Claude Terrail (the owner of the Paris restaurant La Tour d'Argent), Robert F. Kennedy, John F Kennedy, the Brazilian billionaire Jorge Guinle, and Anton LaVey. She had a brief affair with Jan Cremer, a young Dutch writer who dedicated his 1965 autobiographical novel, I, Jan Cremer, to her. Jan Cremer wrote a large part of his book I, Jan Cremer - III about their relationship. She also had a well-publicized relationship in 1963 with the singer Nelson Sardelli, whom she said she planned to marry once her divorce from Hargitay was finalized. At the time of her death, Mansfield was accompanied by Sam Brody, her married divorce lawyer and lover at the time.

First marriage

She secretly married Paul Mansfield on January 28, 1950, when she was 16 and he was 21. The couple had a public wedding on May 10, 1950 when Jayne was three months pregnant and were divorced on January 8, 1958. Their only child together, a daughter named Jayne Marie Mansfield, was born in November 1950. Two weeks before her mother's death, Jayne Marie, then 16, accused her mother's boyfriend, Sam Brody, of beating her. The girl's statement to officers of the West Los Angeles police department the following morning implicated her mother in encouraging the abuse, and days later, a juvenile-court judge awarded temporary custody of Jayne Marie to a great-uncle, W.W. Pigue.

Second marriage

Gate and partial view of Mansfield's former mansion, the Pink Palace (1997)

When seeing Hargitay for the first time at The Mae West Show, at New York City's Latin Quarter nightclub, Jayne told the waiter asking for her order, "I’ll have a steak and that tall man on the left". The man turned out to be Miklós Hargitay, an actor and bodybuilder, publicly known as Mickey Hargitay, who had won the Mr. Universe competition in 1955.

Mansfield and Hargitay married on January 13, 1958 at the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The unique glass chapel made public and press viewing of the wedding much easier. Jayne herself wore a transparent wedding gown, adding to the occasion's publicity aspect. The couple divorced in Juarez, Mexico in May 1963. After the divorce, Mansfield discovered she was pregnant. Since being an unwed mother would have killed her career, Mansfield and Hargitay announced they were still married.

After the birth of the child, Mansfield sued for the Juarez divorce to be declared legal and won. The divorce was recognized in the United States on August 26, 1964. She had previously filed for divorce on May 4, 1962, but told reporters, "I'm sure we will make it up." Their acrimonious divorce had the actress accusing Hargitay of kidnapping one of her children to force a more favorable financial settlement. During this marriage she had two children — Miklós Jeffrey Palmer Hargitay (born December 21, 1958), Zoltán Anthony Hargitay (born August 1, 1960). A third child Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (born January 23, 1964), an actress best known for her role as Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, was born after the actual divorce but before California ruled it valid.

In November 1957 (shortly before her marriage to Hargitay), Mansfield bought a 40-room Mediterranean-style mansion formerly owned by Rudy Vallee at 10100 Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills. Mansfield had the house painted pink, with cupids surrounded by pink fluorescent lights, pink furs in the bathrooms, a pink heart-shaped bathtub, and a fountain spurting pink champagne, and then dubbed it the Pink Palace. Hargitay, a plumber and carpenter before getting into bodybuilding, built a pink heart-shaped swimming pool. Mansfield decorated the Pink Palace by writing to furniture and building suppliers requesting free samples. She received over $150,000 worth of free merchandise while paying only $76,000 for the mansion itself (a large sum nonetheless when the average house cost under $7,500 at the time).

Third marriage

Mansfield married Matt Cimber (alias Matteo Ottaviano, né Thomas Vitale Ottaviano) an Italian-born film director on September 24, 1964. The couple separated on July 11, 1965, and filed for divorce on July 20, 1966. Cimber was a director with whom the actress had become involved when he directed her in a widely praised stage production of Bus Stop in Yonkers, New York, which costarred Hargitay. Cimber took over managing her career during their marriage. With him she had one son, Antonio Raphael Ottaviano (alias Tony Cimber, born October 17, 1965). Work on her last film, Single Room Furnished, was suspended as her marriage to Cimber began to collapse in the wake of Mansfield's alcohol abuse, open infidelities, and her claim to Cimber that she had only ever been happy with her former lover, Nelson Sardelli.

Publicity stunts

Mansfield appeared in about 2,500 newspaper photographs between September 1956 and May 1957, and had about 122,000 lines of newspaper copy written about her during this time. Because of the successful media blitz, Mansfield was a household name. Throughout her career, Mansfield was compared by the media to the reigning sex symbol of the period, Marilyn Monroe. Of this comparison, she said, "I don't know why you people [the press] like to compare me to Marilyn or that girl, what's her name, Kim Novak. Cleavage, of course, helped me a lot to get where I am. I don't know how they got there." Even with her film roles drying up she was widely considered to be Monroe's primary rival in a crowded field of contenders that included Mamie Van Doren (whom Mansfield considered her professional nemesis), Diana Dors, Cleo Moore, Barbara Nichols, Greta Thyssen, Joi Lansing, and Sheree North.

Sophia Loren (left) and Jayne Mansfield (right), at Romanoff's in Beverly Hills

In April 1957, her bosom was the feature of a notorious publicity stunt intended to deflect attention from Sophia Loren during a dinner party in the Italian star's honor. Photographs of the encounter were published around the world. The most famous image showed Loren's shocked and disapproving gaze falling upon the cleavage of the American actress who, sitting between Loren and her dinner companion, Clifton Webb, had leaned over the table, allowing her breasts to spill over her low neckline and exposing one nipple. The image was one of several taken in the same minutes as the image visible left. A similar incident, resulting in the full exposure of both breasts, occurred during a film festival in West Berlin, when Mansfield was wearing a low-cut dress and her second husband, Mickey Hargitay, picked her up so she could bite a bunch of grapes hanging overhead at a party; the movement caused her breasts to erupt out of the dress. The photograph of that episode was a UPI sensation, appearing in newspapers and magazines with the word "censored" hiding the actress's exposed bosom.

The world's media were quick to condemn Mansfield's stunts, and one editorial columnist wrote, "We are amused when Miss Mansfield strains to pull in her stomach to fill out her bikini better. But we get angry when career-seeking women, shady ladies, and certain starlets and actresses ... use every opportunity to display their anatomy unasked." By the late 1950s, Mansfield began to generate a great deal of negative publicity because of her repeated successful attempts to expose her breasts in carefully staged public "accidents".

Mansfield's most celebrated physical attributes would fluctuate in size as a result of her pregnancies and breast feeding five children. Her smallest measurement was 40D (102 cm) (which she was throughout the 1950s), and largest at 46DD (117 cm), when measured by the press in 1967. According to Playboy, her measurement was 40D-21-36 (102-53-91 cm) and her height was 5'6" (1.68 m). According to her autopsy report, she was 5'8" (1.73 m). Her bosom was so much a part of her public persona that talk-show host Jack Paar once welcomed the actress to The Tonight Show by saying, "Here they are, Jayne Mansfield", a line that was written for Paar by Dick Cavett and became the title of her biography by Raymond Strait.

Death

Gravestone, picture taken in 2007

While in Biloxi, Mississippi, for an engagement at the Gus Stevens Supper Club, Mansfield stayed at the Cabana Courtyard Apartments, which were near the supper club. After a June 28, 1967 evening engagement, Mansfield, Brody, and their driver, Ronnie Harrison, along with the actress' children Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska, set out in Stevens' 1966 Buick Electra 225 for New Orleans, where Mansfield was to appear in an early morning television interview. Before leaving Biloxi, the party made a stop at the home of Rupert and Edna O'Neal, a family that lived nearby. After a late dinner with the O'Neals, during which the last photographs of Mansfield were taken, the party set out for New Orleans. On June 29 at approximately 2:25 a.m., on U.S. Highway 90, the car crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer that had slowed because of a truck spraying mosquito fogger. The automobile struck the rear of the trailer and went under it. Riding in the front seat, the adults were killed instantly. The children in the rear survived with minor injuries.

The cenotaph at Hollywood Forever, with incorrect birth year

Rumors that Mansfield was decapitated are untrue, though she did suffer severe head trauma. This urban legend was spawned by the appearance in police photographs of a crashed automobile with its top virtually sheared off, and what resembles a blonde-haired head tangled in the car's smashed windshield. It is believed this was either a wig Mansfield was wearing or was her actual hair and scalp. The death certificate stated the immediate cause of Mansfield's death was a "crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain." Following her death, the NHTSA began requiring an underride guard, a strong bar made of steel tubing, to be installed on all tractor-trailers. This bar is also known as a Mansfield bar, and on occasions as a DOT bar.

Mansfield's funeral was held on July 3, in Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania. The ceremony was conducted by a Methodist minister, though Mansfield, who long tried to convert to Catholicism, had become interested in Judaism at the end of her life through her relationship with Sam Brody. She is interred in Fairview Cemetery, southeast of Pen Argyl. Her gravestone reads "We Live to Love You More Each Day". A memorial cenotaph, showing an incorrect birth year, was erected in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery, Hollywood, California. The cenotaph was placed by The Jayne Mansfield Fan Club and has the incorrect birth year because Mansfield herself tended to provide incorrect information about her age.

Legacy

Shortly after Mansfield's funeral, Mickey Hargitay sued his former wife's estate for more than $275,000 to support the children, whom he and his third and last wife, Ellen Siano, would raise. Mansfield's youngest child, Tony, was raised by his father, Matt Cimber, whose divorce from the actress was pending when she was killed. In 1968, wrongful-death lawsuits were filed on behalf of Jayne Marie Mansfield and Matt Cimber, the former for $4.8 million and the latter for $2.7 million. The Pink Palace was sold and its subsequent owners have included Ringo Starr, Cass Elliot, and Engelbert Humperdinck. In 2002, Humperdinck sold it to developers, and the house was demolished in November of that year. Much of her estate is managed by CMG Worldwide, an intellectual property management company.

In 1980, The Jayne Mansfield Story aired on CBS starring Loni Anderson in the title role and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mickey Hargitay. It was nominated for three Emmy Awards.

Filmography

Year	Movie Title	Role	Co-actors	Director	Producer	Note
1955	Female Jungle	Candy Price	Burt Kaiser, Kathleen Crowley	Bruno VeSota	Burt Kaiser, Kathleen Crowley	Alternative title: The Hangover
1955	Pete Kelly's Blues	Cigarette Girl	Jack Webb, Janet Leigh, Edmond O'Brien, Peggy Lee	Jack Webb	RKO	Uncredited
1955	Underwater!	Girl in Bikini by Pool	Jane Russell, Richard Egan, Edmond O'Brien, Peggy Lee	RKO	John Sturges	Uncredited
1955	Illegal	Angel O'Hara	Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe	Lewis Allen	Warner Bros.
1955	Hell on Frisco Bay	Mario's dance partner in nightclub	Alan Ladd, Fay Wray	Frank Tuttle	Jaguar Productions	Uncredited
1956	The Girl Can't Help It	Jerri Jordan	Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Julie London, Ray Anthony	Frank Tashlin	20th Century Fox	Jayne's first starring role; considered a classic.
1957	The Burglar	Gladden	Dan Duryea, Martha Vickers, Peter Capell, Mickey Shaughnessy	Paul Wendkos	Columbia Pictures	Filmed in 1955
1957	The Wayward Bus	Camille Oakes	Joan Collins, Dan Dailey	Victor Vicas	20th Century Fox
1957	Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?	Rita Marlowe	Tony Randall, Betsy Drake, Joan Blondell, John Williams, Henry Jones	Frank Tashlin	20th Century Fox	Alternative title: Oh! For a Man! (UK); considered a classic.
1957	Kiss Them for Me	Alice Kratzner	Cary Grant, Leif Erickson, Suzy Parker	Stanley Donen	Sol C. Siegel	Mansfield's last starring role in a mainstream Hollywood studio film.
1958	The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw	Kate	Kenneth More, Henry Hull, Bruce Cabot	Raoul Walsh	Angel Productions	Not released in the US until 1959.
1960	The Challenge	Billy	Anthony Quayle, Carl Möhner, Peter Reynolds	John Gilling	Alexandra	Alternative title: It Takes a Thief (US); not released in the US until 1963.
1960	Too Hot to Handle	Midnight Franklin	Leo Genn, Karlheinz Böhm, Christopher Lee	Terence Young	Wigmore Productions	Alternative title: Playgirl After Dark (US); not released in the US until 1961.
1961	The Loves of Hercules	Queen Dianira/ Hippolyta	Mickey Hargitay, Massimo Serato	Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia	Contact Organisation	Alternative titles Gli Amori di Ercole (Italy), Les Amours d'Hercule (France), Hercules vs. the Hydra (TV title); not released to US movie theaters.
1961	The George Raft Story	Lisa Lang	Ray Danton, Julie London, Barrie Chase	Joseph M. Newman	Allied Artists Pictures	Alternative title: Spin of a Coin (UK).
1962	It Happened in Athens	Eleni Costa	Trax Colton, Nico Minardos, Bob Mathias	Andrew Marton	20th Century Fox	Filmed in the fall of 1960; in Greece.
1963	Heimweh nach St. Pauli	Evelyne	Freddy Quinn, Josef Albrecht, Ullrich Haupt	Werner Jacobs	Rapid Film	Alternative title: Homesick for St. Pauli (US); never released in the United States.
1963	Promises! Promises!	Sandy Brooks	Marie McDonald, Tommy Noonan, Mickey Hargitay	King Donovan	Tommy Noonan-Donald F. Taylor
1964	L'Amore Primitivo	Dr. Jane	Franco Franchi, Ciccio Ingrassia, Mickey Hargitay	Luigi Scattini	G.L.M.	Alternative title: Primitive Love (US); not released in the US until 1966.
1964	Panic Button	Angela	Maurice Chevalier, Eleanor Parker, Mike Connors	George Sherman, Giuliano Carnimeo	Gordon Films	Alternative title: Let's Go Bust (US), filmed in 1962.
1964	Einer Frisst den anderen	Darlene/ Mrs. Smithopolis	Cameron Mitchell, Dody Heath, Ivor Salter	Richard E. Cunha, Gustav Gavrin	Dubrava Film	Alternative title: Dog Eat Dog! (US); not released in the United States until 1966.
1966	The Fat Spy	Junior Wellington	Phyllis Diller, Jack E. Leonard	Joseph Cates	Woolner Brothers
1966	The Las Vegas Hillbillys	Tawny	Phyllis Diller, Jack E. Leonard, Brian Donlevy	Arthur Pierson	Woolner Brothers	Alternative title: Country Music.
1967	A Guide for the Married Man	Technical Adviser (Girl with Harold)	Gene Kelly	Walter Matthau, Inger Stevens	20th Century Fox	Cameo appearance.
1968	Single Room Furnished	Johnnie/ Mae/ Eileen	Dorothy Keller, Fabian Dean, Billy M. Greene	Matt Cimber	Empire Film Studios	Posthumous release.

Television work

As an actor

• Sunday Spectacular: The Bachelor, NBC (July 1956)
• Shower of Stars, Desilu Productions, Season 3, Episode 4 ("Star Time", January 1957)
• Val Parnell's Sunday Night at the London Palladium, Associated Television, Season 3, Episode 1 (September 1957)
• The Red Skelton Hour, CBS, Season 9, Episode 2 ("Clem's General Store", October 1959)
• After Hours, ABC Weekend Television, Season 2, Episode 13 (December 1959)
• Kraft Mystery Theater, Season 1, Episode 12 ("The House of Rue Riviera", August 1961)
• Follow the Sun, 20th Century Fox Television, Season 1, Episode 21 ("The Dumbest Blonde", February 1962)
• Monte Carlo, 20th Century Fox Television (August 1961)
• The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, Season 1, Episode 12 ("Hangover", December 1962)
• The Red Skelton Hour, CBS, Season 11, Episode 1 ("Will Success Spoil Clem Kadiddlehopper?", September 1961)
• The Red Skelton Hour, CBS, Season 12, Episode 21 ("Advice to the Loveworn", February 1963)
• Amos Burke, Secret Agent, Four Star Television, Season 1, Episode 26 ("Who Killed Molly?", March 1964)

As herself

• The Bob Hope Show, Hope Enterprise, Season 17, Episode 4 (A Bob Hope Comedy Special, December 1966)
• The Ed Sullivan Show (also named Toast of the Town), CBS, Season 10, Episode 35 (May 1957)
• The Ed Sullivan Show, CBS, Season 10, Episode 46 (August 1957)
• The Jack Benny Program, J&M Productions, Season 7, Episode 8 ("Talent Show", December 1956)
• The Jack Benny Program, J&M Productions, Season 14, Episode 9 ("Jack Takes Boat to Hawaii", November 1963)
• The Tonight Show, NBC, ("The Jack Paar Tonight Show", January 1962)
• The Tonight Show, NBC, (April 1962)

Discography

Albums

• Jayne Mansfield Busts up Las Vegas (20th Century Fox, 1962)
• Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me (MGM, 1964)
• I Wanna Be Loved By You (Golden Options, 2000)
• Dyed Blondes (Recall Records, 2002)
• Too Hot to Handle (Blue Moon, France, 2003)

Singles

• That Makes It (The Las Vegas Hillbillys)
• Too Hot to Handle (Too Hot to Handle)
• Little Things Mean a Lot
• As The Clouds Drift By (with Jimi Hendrix, A-side)
• Suey (with Jimi Hendrix, B-side)
• You Were Made for Me
• Wo Ist Der Mann (Homesick for St. Pauli)
• Snicksnack-Snucklchen (Homesick for St. Pauli)
• I'm in love (also known as the Lullaby of Love; Promises! Promises!)
• Promise her anything (Promises! Promises!)
• It's a Living

Theater performances

• Death of a Salesman (1953)
• Bus Stop (1965)
• Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (1966)
• Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1955–1956)
• Rabbit Habit (1965)

Books

• Jayne Mansfield's Wild, Wild World (Holloway House; 1963; co-author: Mickey Hargitay)

See also

• List of people in Playboy 1953–1959
• List of people in Playboy 1960–1969

References

• Strait, Raymond (1992), Here They Are Jayne Mansfield, S.P.I. Books, US, ISBN ISBN 1-56171-146-2 {{citation}}: Check |isbn= value: invalid character (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |Pages= (help)
• Saxton, Martha (1976). Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties. US: Bantam. ISBN 0-553-02556-2.
• Luijters, Guus (1988). Sexbomb: The Life and Death of Jayne Mansfield. US: Kensington. ISBN 0-8065-1049-8. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• Faris, Jocelyn (1994). Jayne Mansfield: A Bio-Bibliography. UK: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28544-6. {{cite book}}: Unknown parameter |month= ignored (help)
• "Jayne Mansfield: Blonde Ambition", a documentary broadcast on the A&E Network in 2004.
• "Dead Famous: Jayne Mansfield", biography.com

External links

• 2 at Playboy Online
• Jayne Mansfield at IMDb
• Jayne Mansfield at the Internet Broadway Database
• Jayne Mansfield at Find a Grave

Online biographies

• Biographical timeline at Philadelphia Weekly
• JM's Biography at the Biography Channel
• JM's Biography at Dreamtime
• JM's Biography at Find Articles (from St. James Encyclopedia of Pop Culture)
• JM's bio and other facts at Bombshells