biography
Born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Jayne Mansfield became a sexpot of Hollywood and Italian-produced films of the 1950s and 1960s.
Married at 16 to first husband Paul Mansfield and becoming a mother at 17, she started out as a physics major but then switched to drama at the University of Texas
and later at UCLA. After she and her husband parted company, Mansfield made the rounds in Hollywood, trying out for bit parts and modeling assignments. Mansfield used
her exceptional I.Q. (reportedly 163) to break into movies via a series of incredible publicity stunts, becoming a household name before ever appearing in a film.
After bleaching her hair, she did some television work before making her screen debut in the low-budget film noir vehicle Female Jungle (1954; with
John Carradine and Lawrence Tierney). The following year she signed with Warner Bros. and was cast in a small role in Pete
Kelly's Blues (1955; with Jack Webb, Martin Milner, and Peggy Lee). However, the studio dropped her contract soon afterward.  
LEFT and CENTER: Mid to late 1950s cheesecake shots. RIGHT: With Sophia Loren    LEFT: Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield in Europe in the late 1950s. CENTER A: Mickey Hargitay with Jayne Mansfield and her daughter, Jayne Marie, in 1958. CENTER B: Photo from their late 1950s nightclub act. RIGHT: Around the time of their 1958 marriageIn the early 1960s, Mansfield starred in a couple of British films, including It Takes a Thief (1960; with Anthony Quayle), Too Hot to Handle (1960; with Christopher Lee) and a few Italian movies such as Primitive Love (1964). During their six-year marriage, Mansfield and Hargitay made several films together, including The Loves of Hercules (1960), Promises! Promises! (1963), and Primitive Love (1964). After four films and three children (Miklos, Zoltan, and Mariska), they divorced in August 1964. |
the films of jayne mansfieldThe Girl Can't Help It (1956) 
Mansfield's first starring role came in the 20th Century Fox release The Girl Can't Help ItThe Burglar (1957) From Columbia's excellent film noir entry The Burglar with Dan DuryeaThe Wayward Bus (1957) 
LEFT: With Dan Dailey in a scene from the Fox film The Wayward Bus. RIGHT: With co-star Joan CollinsWill Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) With Tony Randall and Joan Blondell in the Fox comedy Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958) With Kenneth More in the 20th Century-Fox western comedy The Sheriff of Fractured JawThe George Raft Story (1961) 
From the Allied Artists release The George Raft Story. LEFT: With Ray Danton. RIGHT: With Ray Danton and Frank GorshinFollow the Sun (1961-1962 ABC TV Series)
Mansfield guest-starred in a February 1962 episode of the ABC series Follow the Sun titled The Dumbest Blonde. Also pictured is series star Barry CoePanic Button (1964)
With Mike Connors in the comedy Panic Button. Shot in Italy during the summer of 1962, this film was released two years laterThe Fat Spy (1965)
From the low-budget comedy The Fat Spy with Brian DonlevySingle Room Furnished (1968)
Still from the drama Single Room Furnished, Mansfield's last filmlater yearsAfter her 1964 divorce from Mickey Hargitay, Mansfield married director Matt Cimber, who took over as her manager during their brief marriage. The couple had a son, Anthony, born in October 1965, and Cimber directed Mansfield's last film, Single Room Furnished (filmed in 1966; released in 1968). Mansfield and Cimber parted company soon after production on the film wrapped. With the downward turn in her film career, Mansfield kept busy with her successful Vegas act, nightclub performances, and television guest shots. Following an evening performance at Gus Stevens Supper Club in Biloxi, Mississippi, Mansfield had scheduled an early morning television interview in New Orleans. While enroute to Louisiana, in the early hours of June 29, 1967, Mansfield, her 20-year-old driver Ronnie Harrison, and her boyfriend, Sam Brody, were killed when the 1966 Buick Electra in which they were riding plowed into the back of a large truck. Three of her children were in the backseat but escaped with minor injuries. She was survived by her five children and her mother. She left an estate to her children valued at $2 million, a considerable sum in 1967. Mansfield's daughter, Mariska Hargitay, is a well-known actress who has made dozens of TV and film appearances. Sadly, in November 2002 Mansfield's famed "Pink Palace" residence was leveled, along with two surrounding houses, in order to make way for a new mansion.the jayne mansfield gallery                     |
filmographyFILM
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