A hidden family secret!

My Mom Jayne (2025)

Produced and Directed: Marishka Hargitay

https://www.hbo.com/movies/my-mom-jayne-a-film-by-mariska-hargitay

I thought it would be one of those soap operas about a daughter losing her mother too soon and how she had an incomplete life growing up without her mother. True, it covers all of that, but it also encompasses much more.

To begin, this documentary was presented by Mariska Hargitay, who is closely associated with the long-running TV police procedural drama 'Law & Order: SVU'. (For Mike Myers fans, she is also remembered in 'The Love Guru' as Myers' obsession).

Mariska Hargitay is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield, the sultry star of 1960s Hollywood, and her second husband, Mickey Hargitay, a Hungarian-born bodybuilder. Jayne was married three times and had a few affairs in between. In 1967, she was killed in a car accident when the vehicle she was travelling in collided with the back of a truck. She was accompanied by three of her children and her solicitor, with whom she was dating. The crash was severe, with the car sliced at the top as it went under the truck, leading to rumours that Mansfield was decapitated. She was not. The children, including Mariska, who were travelling with her, survived. The three adults lost their lives. It is believed that after their tragic accident, Americans made it compulsory for tractor-trailers to be fitted with 'Mansfield Bars', underride guards designed to prevent cars from sliding underneath in collisions.

https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2014/11/story-behind-
infamous-sophia-loren-jayne-mansfield-photo

By that time, Jayne was already divorced from her second husband, Mickey Hargitay, as well as her third husband. Mickey and his new wife took in all the children as their own. Mariska was especially close to her father, Mickey. Mariska, the fourth child, was three when her mother died and naturally has no recollection of the times spent with her mother. Because of the press's constant gossip, rumours, and vilification of Jayne Mansfield's life and accident, Mickey forbade the children from reading anything about their mother. Any information Mariska received about their mother was through her elder sister (#1), who was fourteen years her senior.

 

Mariska revealed a secret she had kept close to her heart for 30 years in this documentary. That is indeed what draws the crowd to the show. When she was 25, she was invited by a Jayne Mansfield fan to view his collection of pictures. It was here that she was aware of the circulating rumour that Mariska could be Nelson Sardelli's daughter. During the tail-end of Mansfield's marriage to Mickey, she was having an open affair with a stage entertainer. Their affair ended soon after she became pregnant, and she returned to Mickey. 

https://koolfmabilene.com/the-story-behind-these-safety-
bars-on-semi-trucks-ties-into-a-famous-actress/

Hariska met Sardelli, and finally, the cat was out of the bag. Sardelli was indeed the father, and Mickey filled in the gap. The rest of the documentary is about an outpouring of emotions upon meeting a lost father, appreciating the magnanimity of Hargitay, and trying to understand the mind of her mother, who has gone through a lot, juggling motherhood with succeeding as a successful, yet somewhat stereotypical, blonde on screen. For the record, Mansfield was no dumb blonde. She is said to have an IQ of between 149 and 163. She could also play the violin and the piano at a high performance level.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Law & Order : Special Victims Unit

For the past few days I have been seeing quite a lot of Mariska Hargitay. If you remember, this word was used as a pseudo-holy greeting in Mike Myers' satire 'The Love Guru' - a comedy full of toilet humour. No, I am not into some kind of religious Renaissance of sorts. It is just that I now have the pleasure of watching Mariska Hargitay and Christopher Meloni in 'Law & Order- Special Victims Unit' in the morning when I exercise and I tell you, it is darn entertaining! I  remember enjoy watching it many years ago in the night slot and it still holds its grip on the audience with its very excellent story line. Now, when I watch a movie/show, what I want is a good line. Period. The chemistry between actors, reality, close proximity, breath-taking scenery, drop dead gorgeous actresses or unnecessary exhibition of flesh etcetera is all not on the priority list. I am basically a sucker for a good story. And Law & Order has that.

1957: Sophia Loren's shocked and disapproving
gaze of Jayne Mansfield 40D cleavage during 
a dinner. After 5 kids, they were 46DD

A simple crime like a robbery will culminate into a bigger problem involving many parties and resulting in many answers and solutions that are neither black nor white but rather in various shades of grey.
If other shows depict masala between investigating officers and spiced up own dysfunctional social life (NCIS, White Collar, Burn Notice) or from a fragment of American Civil War bone, the technicians can sniff out DNA to identify and be cock-sure about the assailant just for him to admit (CSI, Bones), SVU has good old police investigative stories to brag.
Just for the record, Mariska Hargitay is the daughter of the 1950s sex kitten Jayne Mansfield and Hungarian-born Mr Universe, Mickey Hargitay.
Law & Order Special Victims Unit is into its 13th season.

Example of a story I watched recently: Cops move in during a robbery cum attempted rape in a restaurant. Assailant is tracked down but he was just an innocent bystander. It is revealed that the restaurant owner (victim) was actually involved in a domestic disharmony with soon to be separated hubby prior to incident. Then, we come to know that she is pregnant 11weeks and quarrel came about as she was consuming alcohol. Then, there was a tussle between couple about termination of pregnancy in court. The wife by then is found to have an alcohol problem. Through her teachers (police investigation), it is found that she had a teenage delivery whom she gave up for adoption. The child is discovered to have Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. The victim now has to incarcerated in an institution for therapy.