Mansfield left Biloxi a little after midnight on June 29, 1967. Your email address will not be published. [80] Despite career setbacks, she remained a highly visible celebrity during the early 1960s through her publicity antics and stage performances. In my life, certainly I've tried to avoid pain, loss, feeling things. According to police, Mansfield suffered a gruesome though near-instantaneous death. In early 1967, Mansfield filmed her last role, a cameo in A Guide for the Married Man, a comedy starring Walter Matthau, Robert Morse and Inger Stevens. [193] After the divorce, she decided to keep "Mansfield" as her professional name. [298][299][300], Throughout her career, Mansfield was compared by the media to the reigning sex symbol of the period, Marilyn Monroe. We also may change the frequency you receive our emails from us in order to keep you up to date and give you the best relevant information possible. [301] The studio launched Mansfield with a grand 40-day tour of England and Europe from September 25 to November 6, 1957. According to the police report on the accident, "the upper portion of this white female's head was severed." Hargitay had just helped place the body of actress Jayne Mansfield in the hearse for a trip to Pen Argyl, PA. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images). Three of her children slept in the backseat. The actress' death 53 years ago has inspired one of the darkest urban legends in Hollywood history. It was nominated for three Emmy Awards. [30][32][33] Mansfield then spent a year at Camp Gordon, Georgia (a US Army training facility), when Paul Mansfield served in the United States Army Reserve in the Korean War. Mansfield was 16 years old when she met a 20-year-old named Paul Mansfield at a Christmas party and immediately fell for him. Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer in Pennsylvania in 1933. [4] She inherited more than $90,000 from her maternal grandfather, Thomas ($850,000 in 2021 dollars),[5] and more than $36,000 from her maternal grandmother, Beatrice Mary Palmer, in 1958 ($340,000 in 2021 dollars). The A-side featured Hans Last's "Snicksnack-Snuckelchen". Mansfield received her first truly negative publicity after she and Hargitay pleaded poverty when his first wife, Mary Hargitay, whom he divorced on September 6, 1956, requested additional child support for their nine-year-old, first child, Tina, in September 1958. [54] The contract initially paid her $250 a week ($3,000 in 2021 dollars) and landed her two films one with an insignificant role and another unreleased for two years. She received first billing above the title but appeared in only a supporting role. "[306] The crowd of contenders also included Sheree North, Kim Novak, Joi Lansing, Beverly Michaels, Barbara Nichols and Greta Thyssen, and even two brunettes Elizabeth Taylor and Jane Russell. Of course, Marilyn Monroe was Hollywoods original blonde bombshell, but Jayne Mansfield posed a threat to Monroe after signing a six-year contract with 20th Century Fox in 1956. Actress: The Girl Can't Help It. In the early morning hours of June 29, 1967, Jayne Mansfield was traveling from Biloxi, Mississippi, where she had finished performing at a nightclub, to New Orleans for a scheduled television appearance. [104] She starred as Rita Marlowe (a wild, blonde Hollywood starlet la Monroe) in the musical spoofing Hollywood in general and Marilyn Monroe in particular. In 1964 MGM Records released a novelty album called Jayne Mansfield: Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me, in which Mansfield recited Shakespeare's sonnets and poems by Marlowe, Browning, Wordsworth, and others against a background of Tchaikovsky's music. [267] According to Playboy, her vital statistics were 40D-21-36 (1025391cm) on her 5'6" (1.68m) frame. It now belongs to Scott Michaels who displays it as the centre piece of his Dearly Departed Tours and Artifact Museum in Los Angeles. In the . Another view of Mansfields mangled car after the accident. The car crash that killed Jayne Mansfield also decapitated her. [307][308][309] Mamie Van Doren, Diana Dors and Kim Novak also acted in productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Cimber, and his third wife dress designer Christy Hilliard Hanak, whom he married on December 2, 1967, raised Tony, Mansfield's youngest child. Mansfield left behind five children and a crumbling estate,[336][337][338] including the Pink Palace. [52], Mansfield's first film part was a supporting role in Female Jungle, a low-budget drama completed in ten days. A Blonde Bombshell, A Satanic Curse, And Rumors Of Decapitation: The Tragic Story Of Jayne Mansfields Death. She also studied Spanish and German. with Orson Bean and Walter Matthau. In 1952, while in Dallas, she and Paul Mansfield participated in small local-theater productions of The Slaves of Demon Rum and Ten Nights in a Barroom, and Anything Goes in Camp Gordon, Georgia. In the years since her death, Jayne has become a cultural icon, known for her beauty, glamorous lifestyle, and tragic end. On stage, he was the male lead in The Tropicana Holiday, The House of Love, French Dressing, and other nightclub acts. [120][121][122] She had a million-dollar policy with Lloyd's of London in case Hargitay dropped her as he whirled her around for the show. Her autopsy report says accident occurred about 1 mile further up the road in this direction. This means that we may include adverts from us and third parties based on our knowledge of you. She was in the . The road ahead became suddenly obscured by thick mosquito repellent that prevented Jayne's driver from noticing the closeness of a slow-moving truck just in front of them. [16] She graduated from Highland Park High School in 1950. [220] The couple divorced in Juarez, Mexico, in May 1963, where Nelson Sardelli accompanied Mansfield in her legal preparations. Promises! Promises! [73] Mansfield and Hargitay had a number of business holdings, including the Hargitay Exercise Equipment Company, Jayne Mansfield Productions, and Eastland Savings and Loan. [339], After Mansfield's death, Hargitay, Cimber, Vera Peers (Mansfield's mother), William Pigue (Jayne Marie's legal guardian), and Charles Goldring (Mansfield's business manager), as well as Bernard B. Cohen and Jerome Webber (both administrators of the estate) filed unsuccessful suits to gain control of her estate. Upon rounding a dark corner of highway, their car slammed directly into the back of a slow-moving semi truck, killing all three adults in the front seat. The car, which is known as Jayne Mansfields death car, was saved from complete destruction after it was bought by a private collector in Florida. The 1966 Buick Electra was completely destroyed upon impact. Sign up now to learn about This Day in History straight from your inbox. (1963). Drawing on the Freudian concept of fetishism, British science-fiction writer and socio-cultural commentator, J. G. Ballard commented that Mae West's, Mansfield's, and Monroe's breasts "loomed across the horizon of popular consciousness". Kenneth Anger's 1975 Hollywood Babylon contains a controversial photo of the wrecked Electra which shows Mansfield's dead dog lying beside the car as well as another item that has aroused considerable dicussion, something that appears to be a clutch of human hair. Mansfield took her professional name from her first husband, public relations professional Paul Mansfield. Her thesis examined menstrual education in Victorian England. American actress Jayne Mansfield , circa 1955. Mansfield was sitting in the cars front passenger seat, which was the most dangerous position, especially given the design of the cars dashboard. Losing my mother at such a young age is the scar of my soul. Playboy published nude photographs of Mansfield on the set in its June 1963 issue, resulting in obscenity charges against Hugh Hefner in a Chicago court. The model/actress made pink her trademark color she wore pink, drove a pink car and eventually bought a house decked out in pink that was dubbed "the pink palace.". Her parents are Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield. The urban legend started after police photographs showed the crashed car with its roof ripped off and what looked like white blonde hair in the mangled windshield. The Challenge was released in 1963 as It Takes a Thief. Together, the couple had a son but divorced in 1966. It really upset my mother. 1967 Actress Jayne Mansfield dies in car crash Blonde bombshell and celebrated actress Jayne Mansfield is killed instantly on June 29, 1967, when the car in which she is riding strikes. [96][Notes 3], As late as the mid-1980s, Mansfield remained one of the biggest television draws. Sullivan, Steve. After her breakout role in The Girl Cant Help It (1956), 20th Century Fox began marketing Mansfield as Marilyn Monroe King-Size. Jayne Mansfield insisted that she was not trying to copy Marilyn Monroe, but Monroe didnt believe these claims. I don't really think I am the most beautiful woman in the world at all. Semi-trucks now required their trailers to have a steel bar put in place to prevent any cars from rolling underneath. (Photo Credit: Michael Ochs Archives/ Getty Images). The best-selling book included a controversial photo of the aftermath of the fatal car crash. [126] Byron appointed most of the people on her team William Shiffrin (press agent), Greg Bautzer (attorney) and Charles Goldring (business manager)[276] and constantly planted publicity material in the media. Harrison likely didnt see the truck until it was too late because of a nearby machine pumping out thick fog to kill mosquitos. Unknown/Wikimedia CommonsJayne Mansfield and her husband Mickey Hargitay in costume at the 1956 Ballyhoo Ball. The impact sheared off the top of Mansfields car, instantly killing the three adults in the front seat. Taylor Jenkins Car Accident And Death Hoax- What Happened To Him? At just after 2 a.m.,the group suddenly encountered a thick fog of insecticide spray drifting across the road. Jayne Mansfield had struck up an unlikely friendship with Church of Satan creator Anton LaVey. Upon impact, Jayne Mansfields wig was thrown from the car. [17][18][19][20] While in high school, Palmer took violin, piano, and viola lessons. Va Va Voom! (1963); the latter established Mansfield as the first major American actress to perform in a nude scene in a post-silent era film. [47] Her February appearance increased the magazine's circulation and helped boost Mansfield's career. The service was conducted by Charles Montgomery, a pastor of the Zion Methodist Church. Mansfield thus joined the era's pantheon of blonde sex symbols who evokedMarilyn Monroe. Thecircumstances surrounding Mansfield's deathseemed to be straightforward, but rumors quickly began to circulate about the beloved actress's true cause of death. Jayne Mansfield. Get a daily dose of showbiz gossip direct to your inbox. Little is known about the rumored curse, but LaVey is on record as saying it was worked upon her by a consort. Other items on display include bricks from the Tate murder house and the bed and blanket where actor Rock Hudson spent his last night. In the film, Mansfield's three songs were dubbed by singer Connie Francis. Sam's wife, Beverly Brody, filed for divorce, naming Mansfield the "41st other woman" in Sam's life. Jayne Mansfield was known for her flamboyant tactics, such as exposing her breasts in movies and to photographers on the street. [43] She landed her first acting assignment in Lux Video Theatre, a series on CBS in the episode "An Angel Went AWOL", aired on October 21, 1954. [244] Reputed to be Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde", she later complained that the public did not care about her brains saying, "They're more interested in 402135 [a reference to her body measurements]. Despite the autopsys findings, rumors and speculation about the actual cause of Mansfields death persisted for many years. Driver Ronald B. Harrison and companion Samuel S. Brody also perished. [177][242][283][284] On June 8 of the same year, her dress fell down to her waist twice in a single evening once at a movie party, and later at a nightclub. (Photo Credit: Bettmann/ Getty Images), More from us: 9 Final Photos of Famous People Before They Died. [192] Jayne filed for divorce in California in 1956, Paul filed for divorce in 1957 in Texas citing mental cruelty, and they received their divorce papers on January 8, 1958. That same year, Mansfield appeared in a pinup book called Jayne Mansfield for President: the White House or Bust, which was promoted on billboards; David Attie, a commercial and fine art photographer, took the photographs. Arguably, no celebrity death was more tragic or gruesome than that of screen starlet Jayne Mansfield. Fox launched its new blonde bombshell with a North American tour and a 40-day, 16-country tour of Europe. But the beheading story remains oft-repeated, even finding its way into the 1996 movie Crash. [197][198], Mansfield met her second husband, Mickey Hargitay, at the Latin Quarter nightclub in New York City on May 13, 1956, where he was performing as a member of the chorus line in Mae West's show. [142] The New York Times described the album as a reading of "30-odd poems in a husky, urban, baby voice". My earliest memories are the best. Mansfield had been on her way to New Orleans from Biloxi, Mississippi, where she had been performing a standing engagement at a local nightclub; she had a television appearance scheduled the following day. But when news of Marilyn Monroes sudden death reached Mansfield in 1962, the typically audacious actress worried, Maybe Ill be next.. [275] She appeared in about 2,500 newspaper photographs, and had about 122,000 lines of newspaper copy written about her between September 1956 and May 1957. Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, 1933, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. After the accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration had all semi-trucks change their design. With a decreased demand for big-breasted, blonde bombshells and an increasing negative backlash against her excessive publicity, Mansfield became a box-office has-been by the early 1960s,[40] yet she remained a celebrity, still able to attract large crowds outside the United States by way of lucrative and successful nightclub acts. Jayne Mansfield didnt shy away from the rivalry. With this film, she attempted to move away from her "blonde bombshell" image and establish herself as a serious actress. Near the end of her life, Jayne Mansfield's career .
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