Jayne Mansfield in Pictures: A Beloved Hollywood Bombshell
Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jane Palmer on April 19, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Penn., and at age 3, after the death of her father, moved to Dallas, Texas. She was eager to be in Hollywood like her idol Shirley Temple and took lessons in ballroom dancing, violin, piano and viola, as well as Spanish and German. At age 16, she met 20-year-old Paul Mansfield during a high school Christmas Eve party. They married secretly that January despite knowing each other less than a month and, after Jayne got pregnant, had a public ceremony in May. They later moved to Los Angeles to further Jayne’s career.
The couple fought constantly about Jayne’s ambition and possible infidelities, and both decided to divorce. The process lasted from 1955-58, during which Jayne decided to keep Mansfield as her professional name and began a long tradition of appearing in Playboy magazine. Her 1955 appearance as the Playmate of the Month not only increased subscriptions but also launched her career, as Warner Bros. took notice and offered Mansfield a seven-year contract and the rest is movie history! Take a look back at the star’s life in some of these rare photos.
Posing as ‘Working Press,’ 1956
APA/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Express Newspapers/Getty Images
Mirror Magazine Cover, 1955
via King Features Syndicate
Little lunch break on the set of Too Hot To Handle, 1959
Keystone/Getty Images
With Bob Hope, 1957
via King Features Syndicate
Other Marriages & Death
Mansfield met bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay in 1956, and over the next eight years of their relationship, they starred in several films together (including Promises! Promises!, where Mansfield was the first American actress to appear nude in a starring role). The couple had three children, including the youngest, actress Mariska Hargitay. After their divorce in 1964, she married and divorced again within two years and began living with her divorce attorney, Sam Brody. Sadly 0n June 29, 1967, Brody, Mansfield and their driver were involved in an accident with a tractor-trailer as her children slept in the back seat. Though it was rumored Mansfield was decapitated, that is untrue; she died of head trauma at age 34. All three children survived with minor injuries.
Tying the knot with strong man Mickey Hargitay, 1958
via King Features Syndicate
On shoulders of Mickey Hargitay at costume party, 1956
Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images
With her daughter, Jayne Marie, also known as Mariska, 1958
Reg Birkett/Keystone/Getty Images
Poses looking at a mirror, 1963
via King Features Syndicate
Meeting Queen Elizabeth II, 1957
via King Features Syndicate
Back to her natural brunette, 1965
Hulton Archive/Getty Images
Hollywood Glamour
May 2020
Celebrate the most glamorous leading ladies from the Golden Age of Hollywood
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