Biography of jayne mansfield

Mansfield's movie career was so brief that she would not have obtained cult status had it not been for the countless number of photos and news stories she generated during her lifetime. Mansfield was born on April 19,in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. The family moved to Phillipsburg, New Jerseywhere her father practiced law and her mother was a school teacher who retired to raise a family.

Biography of jayne mansfield: Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne

When Jayne was three, her father died of a heart attack at age thirty. Upon the father's death, her mother returned to teaching to support the family. When Jayne's mother remarried inthe family moved to Dallas. Throughout her childhood, Jayne was fascinated with movie stars, with Shirley Temple being one of her favorites. She avidly collected Hollywood fan magazines and dreamed of being a film star.

As she matured, her idol became Marilyn Monroe. Paul Mansfield served in the Army during the Korean Warand at various times during the early s, both Jayne and her husband acted in little theater productions in Dallas. Bythe couple moved to Hollywood so Jayne could have a chance at being the movie star she always dreamed of becoming.

She initially did a bevy of screen tests, but no studio would sign her. In the meantime, Jayne sold candy in a Los Angeles theater and worked as a part-time model for the agency where Marilyn Monroe got her start. Jayne Mansfield's first successful acting assignment occurred on October 21,when she appeared on television in the Lux Theater production of "An Angel Went A.

After her first taste of stardom, Mansfield began cranking up her publicity machine, adopting the color pink as her trademark. She decorated her house in pink, drove pink cars, and wore pink clothes for the publicity she received from the color. Because Mansfield purposely wore a swimsuit that was too small, her top fell off before an astonished press corps, upstaging Russell's appearance at the junket.

This burst of publicity led Warner Brothers to place Mansfield under contract. During this time, Mansfield's marriage fell apart, with the couple separating and then divorcing in And although it was rumored that Mansfield would appear with James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause, that breakthrough vanished when Warner Brothers abruptly dropped her contract.

Mansfield rebounded that same year by landing a larger role in the independent film, The Burglar. Mansfield proved to be a Broadway sensation, and won awards in for her work. Because America became infatuated with the sex kitten persona she developed in the play, Mansfield appeared in about 2, newspaper photographs between September and Mayand had aboutlines of newspaper copy written about her during this time.

Because of the successful media blitz, Jayne Mansfield was a household name even though few people had seen her perform. ByTwentieth Century-Fox had signed Mansfield in hopes of her becoming a new Marilyn Monroe, who, at the time, was refusing to make movies unless the studio gave her more money and treated her with respect. She married her first husband, Paul Mansfield, ina biography of jayne mansfield that produced their daughter Jayne Marie.

However, the marriage ended in as Jayne pursued her Hollywood ambitions. Following her divorce, she found romance again with Mickey Hargitay, the Mr. Universe titleholder, in They had three children together: Miklos, Zoltan, and the well-known actress Mariska Hargitay. Their marriage was tumultuous, peppered with arguments that culminated in their split in After her marriage to Hargitay, Jayne Mansfield wed director Matt Cimber, although it was later revealed she had not officially divorced Hargitay at that time.

Together, they had a daughter named Tina.

Biography of jayne mansfield: Jayne Mansfield was an American

This relationship also encountered difficulties, and they eventually parted ways. Following her marriage to Cimber, Mansfield found herself in a highly volatile relationship with attorney Sam Brody. Despite her chaotic personal life, Jayne remained devoted to her children, who often accompanied her during her nightclub performances and other public appearances.

Jayne Mansfield's career spanned a diverse array of entertainment avenues, including film, theater, and nightclub performances, reflecting her ability to adapt and thrive in a volatile industry. Mansfield's earnings were bolstered by her strategic branding, with her trademark pink palatial home and carefully crafted public persona drawing significant media attention, translating into lucrative endorsement deals and modeling gigs, including her appearances in Playboy magazine.

Throughout her career, Mansfield demonstrated an astute business sense, leveraging her notoriety through various ventures. She made cheap "indies" and European melodramas and comedies. Mansfield became the first major American actress to have a nude starring role in a Hollywood movie. Hugh Hefner published nude photographs of Mansfield on the movie set in the June issue of Playboy.

He was tried in Chicago city court on obscenity charges, but was acquitted. Mansfield married public relations professional Paul Mansfield in They had one daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield. The couple divorced in Jayne kept "Mansfield" as her professional name. She married actor- bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay in They divorced in She married Italian-born movie director Matt Cimber a.

The couple separated in Their divorce was pending when Mansfield was killed in Mansfield was killed in a car crash in June She was going to New Orleans for a television interview when her car crashed into the back of a truck. While studying under Lumet, she acted in a few local television productions and won a small part in a local presentation of Death of a Salesmana role that brought her to.

When Paul came back from Korea inhe made good on an earlier promise to move to California so that Jayne could pursue a career in motion pictures. Soon after their arrival in Southern California, Mansfield signed with an agent, Robert Schwartz, but work was not forthcoming.

Biography of jayne mansfield: Jayne Mansfield was an American actress

Paul found Jayne's quest for stardom more than he could tolerate and asked her to give up her career and return with him to Dallas. When she refused, he sued for divorce and sought custody of their daughter, citing a couple of Jayne's provocative pin-up posters; the court granted the divorce but turned down his custody petition. Mansfield landed a part on television by camping out in the office of the casting agent for three consecutive days.

It has been written, though perhaps apocryphally, that while still waiting to see the agent she scribbled "36—22—34" on a card and had it delivered to the show's producer. Supposedly, she was hired the same day. Although she then added a handful of small acting roles to her resume, her career was not successfully launched until early By that time, an appearance in Hugh Hefner's fledgling Playboy had increased her profile in Hollywood considerably.

Her first film was Illegaland she also appeared in the television series "Casablanca. While biography of jayne mansfield, she received word that the studio had terminated her contract. Although reviews for the play were lukewarm at best, critics raved about her performance. Mansfield was suddenly a hot ticket in New Yorkleading to guest appearances on a number of television game shows, including "What's My Line" and "Down You Go," as well as a couple of minute specials.

Universewho was one of the musclemen in West's entourage: Mansfield claimed it was love at first sight. Offered an attractive contract by 20th Century-Fox, which had also bought the rights to Rock Hunter, Mansfield left Broadway after more than performances and headed back to Hollywood. The Girl Can't Help It, her first film for Fox, was a box-office smash, rated among the top 20 films of that year.

She next re-created her Broadway role in Fox's film version of Rock Hunter. Although it did not equal the success of The Girl Can't Help It, the film did well enough and eventually became something of a cult favorite. Against the wishes of Fox, Mansfield married Hargitay on January 13, After their honeymoon, the newlyweds starred together in a nightclub act at the Tropicana in Las Vegas for six weeks.

Before long, Mansfield and Hargitay welcomed the arrival of their first child, a son they named Miklos. About a year later, while they were both working on the film The Loves of Hercules, Mansfield became pregnant with their second son, Zoltan. Mansfield's career peaked soon thereafter. In the wake of America's sexual revolution, her brand of sex appeal went out of style, and her inability to shape her image to the emerging sexual maturity resulted in parody; rather than copy for the Hollywood trade magazines, her life became fodder for the tabloids.

Fox used her less and less and loaned her out to other studios for B or lesser movies.