Born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933, in Pennsylvania, the only child of Herbert and Vera Palmer. Jayne spent her early childhood in Phillipsburg, New Jersey, until her mother remarried and took the family to live in Dallas, Texas.
Jayne had an early interest in becoming an actress when she attended Southern Methodist University studying physics and drama.
Jayne’s first marriage was at the tender age of sixteen, in 1950, to Paul Mansfield. Within the year the couple had their first child, Jayne Marie, who was also be a Playboy centerfold in 1976, born in November of 1950. With the birth of her daughter Jayne had to put her acting career on hold and while her husband was away on service with the United States Army, she attended classes at the University of Texas at Austin and at Camp Gordon, Georgia. After becoming a student of Baruch Lumet at the Institute of the Performing arts in October 1953, she made her stage debut in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman.
During her time in Dallas, Texas, Jayne entered and won several minor beauty contests.
Once Jayne was discovered by a talent scout for Warner Brothers, she was signed to the studio and appeared in her first screen role in 1954, Female Jungle. Most of Jayne’s roles were geared towards comedy or capitalized on her sex appeal.
Following on from the success of her sex appeal in the movies, Jayne pulled a publicity stunt while attending a dinner with Sophia Loren when she deliberately let the top of her dress fall away. It was noted that she was becoming rather a caricature, like Mae West, and alienated the segment of movie-goers who took sex seriously.
In 1955 Mansfield appeared on Broadway, in George Axelrod’s comedy, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?
In 1956 Jayne returned to Hollywood and signed a long term contract with 20th Century Fox and went on to appear in The Wayward Bus along with Dan Dailey and Joan Collins. Later in Hollywood she appeared alongside Cary Grant in Kiss them for Me in 1957, but the movie was badly received and brought an end to her starring roles in mainstream studio films.
After divorcing Paul Mansfield in 1958 Jayne married Mickey Hargitay a body builder born in Hungary who had previously been Mr. Universe. At this time Jayne remained busy filming but was only in demand for low budget European films who wanted as much of her body on display as was possible. She and Hargitay had three children together, Miklos, Zoltan, and Mariska Hargitay who later took up acting and appeared regularly as Olivia Benson in Law and Order SVU with Sam Waterston and Jerry Orbach.
Her chance to appear with Paul Newman in Rally Round the Flag Boys was thwarted by Joan Collins who was preferred for the character by Fox studios. However she went on to have other roles, albeit, less than top billing roles co-starring opposite actors such as Anthony Quayle.
1955 brought Jayne’s Playboy experience, which resulted in obscenity charges being brought against the magazine’s owner, Hugh Hefner, when the photo shoot depicted Jayne in a less than honorable light. She continued to appear in Playboy a number of times over the next few years. After ex-Beatle Paul McCartney referred to Mansfield as "an old bag" in a 1965 Playboy interview of The Beatles, Mansfield was never asked to appear nude in the magazine again.
It was rumoured in the early 60s that along with Marilyn Monroe having an affair with John F Kennedy, Jayne was also having an affair with Robert F Kennedy.
By 1964 Jayne was onto her third husband, Matt Climber, whom she married in September of that year and separated from in July of the following year. She did have time to produce a son from that marriage, Antonio, also known as Tony Climber.
The property at 10100 Sunset Boulevard, Beverly Hills, became the home of Mansfield and Hargitay in 1957 when she had the building painted pink. It had a landmark heart-shaped swimming pool and was later sold to 1970s pop star Englebert Humperdinck in the 1970s and when he sold it in 2002 the property was demolished by developers.
Mansfield’s life was cut short in a motor vehicle accident on U.S. Highway 90 when she and her three children were traveling to New Orleans with Sam Brody when the car hit a tractor trailer. The children survived but the adults and the driver were all killed.
Jayne is buried in Pen, Argyl, and she has a pink heart-shaped head stone, which has engraved on it, "WE LIVE TO LOVE YOU MORE EACH DAY."
Jayne Mansfield has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
Before, and since Jayne’s death she has been portrayed on many TV programs including Dudley Moore’s Derek and Clive in 1976 and Saturday Night Live, with Alec Baldwin and Christina Aguilera.
YUDDY
