Jayne Mansfield was an American actress of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw, The George Raft Story, Kiss Them for Me, and The Girl Can't Help It fame.

Known more for her ample physical attributes than her acting ability, Jayne Mansfield was one of the more colorful sex symbols of the late 1950s and early '60s. She was known as the poor man's Marilyn Monroe, but was never offered the prize film roles that Marilyn landed. Though most of her later motion pictures were low budget duds, a few of her early movies were actually decent films in which she gave respectable performances. The Girl Can't Help It, and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, are among her best films.

Jayne Mansfield's stage credits include Bus Stop, Death of a Salesman, Gentlemen Prefer Blonds, as well as starring in the Broadway hit Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, two years before making the film version. Her life story was told in the 1980 Arnold Schwarzenegger, Loni Anderson TV-movie, The Jayne Mansfield Story.

Full, original or maiden name at birth: Vera Jane Palmer (sometimes spelled Vera Jayne Palmer)

Date, time and place of birth: April 19, 1933, at 5:40 p.m., Bryn Mawr Hospital, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.

Date, time, place and cause of death: June 29, 1967, at 2:25 a.m.*, Highway 90 near the Rigolets Bridge, near New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S.A. (Auto accident)

Marriage #1
Husband: Paul Mansfield (m. 1950 - January 8, 1958) (divorced)
Wedding took place in Fort Worth, Texas, U.S.A.

Marriage #2
Husband: Mickey Hargitay (m. January 13, 1958 - August 26, 1964) (divorced)
Wedding took place at the Wayfarer's Chapel, 5755 Palos Verdes Drive South, Palos Verdes, California, U.S.A.

Marriage #3
Husband: Matt Cimber (m. September 24, 1964 - 1966/67) (divorced)
Wedding took place in Aereo Mulege, Baja, Mexico.

Children
Sons: Miklos Jeffrey Hargitay (known as Mickey Hargitay, Jr.) (b. December 21, 1958, at 5:00 a.m., St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, California)
Zoltan Anthony Hargitay (b. August 1, 1960, St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, California)
Antonio Raphael Ottaviano Cimber (b. October 1965, Cedars of Lebanon Hospital, Los Angeles, California)

Daughters: Jayne Marie Mansfield (b. November 8, 1950, at 10:50 a.m., Austin, Texas)
Mariska Hargitay (b. January 23, 1964, St. John's Hospital, Santa Monica, California)

Parents
Father: Herbert William Palmer (an attorney)
Mother: Vera Jeffrey Palmer

Burial site: Fairview Cemetery, near Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania, U.S.A.
There's a memorial tablet for Jayne at the Hollywood Forever Memorial Park in Hollywood, California, but her remains are not located there.

* She was killed instantly in the auto accident which took place at 2:25 a.m., but was not "officially" pronounced dead until 4:07 a.m.
Contrary to numerous published reports, she was not decapitated in the car crash that killed her. A well-known photograph of the accident scene purports to show her decapitated head, when in reality, the "head" is Jayne's wig which came off in the accident. In point of fact, her skull was crashed and scalped, but by no means was she decapitated.

The most in-depth of more than three dozen sources consulted in preparing this profile:
The Tragic Secret Life of Jayne Mansfield, by Raymond Strait (1974)
Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties, by Martha Saxton (1975).

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