Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield were some of the most famous Hollywood power couples
of their day.
Together, they brought daughter Mariska Hargitay into the world, who would later follow in
her parent's footsteps by pursuing a career in acting.
You probably know her best for her role as Olivia Benson on the NBC drama series Law
& Order: Special Victims Unit.
Mickey Hargitay was a famed bodybuilder and gifted acrobat, and although his wife, Jayne
Mansfield, was clearly the bigger star of the two, he did attain minor celebrity status
as well – mostly due to the fact that he was married to one of the biggest names in
Tinseltown during that era.
Hargitay and Mansfield were a lot like Hollywood's version of Tarzan and Jane.
They could often be seen posing in skimpy animal-print outfits while showing off tremendous
feats of physical adeptness.
Later on in their story, they were often photographed staring longingly into each other's eyes as
they gushed about their children in interviews and protected them from the vampiristic paparazzi
who followed them around town ceaselessly.
They were two gorgeous people, and the public of the late 1950s and early 1960s couldn't
get enough of them.
Sadly, as great of a team as they seemed to make, their seemingly iron-clad relationship
was destined for tragedy.
Join FactsVerse as we take a closer look at the factors that brought about the tragic
end of Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield's romance.
This is a tale with many unexpected twists and turns.
If you aren't already familiar with the fates of these two stars, you're in for a bit of
a tearjerker.
From Euro Mr. Universe To American Star
Long before Arnold Schwarzenegger went from being a bodybuilding meathead to action-movie
star to Governor of the state of California, another muscle man from Europe successfully
made the transition from being a male bodybuilding contest winner to star of the big screen.
This former Mr. Universe turned Hollywood actor, Mickey Hargitay, even captured the
attention of one of Hollywood's biggest sex symbols of that era, Jayne Mansfield.
Miklos "Mickey" Hargitay, was born in Budapest in 1926.
He was one of four children who were raised by their athletic father.
As such, Mickey and his brothers were likewise raised as athletes.
While he was still young, Hargitay and his brothers formed an acrobatic act that proved
to be quite popular throughout Hungary.
They even got the chance to perform at the largest opera house in Budapest.
Hargitay was introduced to the sport of speed skating by his brother and in 1946, he won
the Middle European Championship at the 500 meters and 1500 meter races.
He further placed 2nd in the 5,000-meter race.
Hargitay was also a fairly proficient player of football as well as an accomplished underground
fighter during the second world war.
In 1947, Hargitay left Hungary behind and set out to the United States where he settled
in Cleveland, Ohio.
It was there that he met his first wife, an acrobat named Mary Birge.
With her, Hargitay had a daughter named Tina who was born in 1949.
For some time he worked as a carpenter and plumber while also performing alongside Birge
in an acrobatic act.
Hargitay became interested in bodybuilding after seeing a cover of a magazine that featured
Steve Reeves, the famously ripped actor who played Hercules.
In 1955, Hargitay became the National Amateur Body-Builders' Association's Mr. Universe.
After winning that title and divorcing his first wife, Hargitay joined Mae West's muscleman
revue over at the Latin Quarter nightclub of New York.
It was there that he met his second wife, Jayne Mansfield, whom he inevitably would
marry in 1958.
Mansfield showed up at the nightclub one evening to enjoy a bite to eat.
When she asked what she would like to eat, she told her server that she would like a
steak as well as the 'man on the left'.
It was lust at first sight – but that lust would ultimately give way to a great deal
of love and connection.
What Jayne Mansfield Wanted She Got
It didn't take long after Mansfield laid her eyes on Mickey Hargitay for the two to fall
madly, deeply in love.
And seemingly overnight, the couple had gotten married.
These two stars combined formed one of the most visually appealing power couples that
have ever taken Hollywood by storm.
The duo of aesthetically pleasing people went on to appear in a string of films together
as co-stars.
A few of these films include the 1960s The Loves of Hercule, 1963s Promises!
Promises!, and 1964s Primitive Love.
Even though the two enjoyed a great deal of both personal and professional successes,
Hargitay still managed to keep a level head about things.
He was once quoted as saying that even though he enjoyed what he did as a career, he never
desired to be anything more than what he was.
Hargitay was quite the gentleman.
He exuded genuineness and humility despite the fact that he had a ton of accolades and
successes under his belt.
Regardless of all that success, you would have never gotten that impression from him
if you met him face to face.
According to people that were privileged with knowing Hargitay personally, he just seemed
like a regular guy.
Their Marriage Wasn't What Either Star Expected
Let's rewind a bit back to Mansfield and Hargitay's nuptials.
After Hargitay proposed to Mansfield in November 1957, he and his bride-to-be began planning
their wedding and deciding which A-Listers would be invited to the event.
The first thing that Mansfield had to do was finalize her divorce from her first husband,
Paul Mansfield.
She managed to accomplish this just five days before she walked down the aisle.
In January of 1958, the couple held a press briefing where they announced that their marriage
would be a 'quiet' affair, which was a bit unusual considering how Jayne typically embraced
the spotlight.
They picked the date January 13, 1958 to exchange their vows because the 13th was the day of
the month that they had met and the number 13 was also tied to Hargitay's Mr. Universe
win and his acquisition of American Citizenship.
The pair allegedly had invited 100 guests to the event.
Each guest received their invites on pink pieces of parchment – pink being Manfield's
signature color.
Most of these invitees were fellow celebrities, and even though Hargitay wasn't thrilled about
the idea of having 100 people at the wedding, he went along with it anyways.
Apparently, none of the stars that Manfield had invited showed up to the ceremony – but
even so, things still managed to get out of hand.
Somehow 100 invites turned into thousands.
Reportedly, Mansfield barely even managed to make it to her own wedding due to the thick
crowd of people that were encircling the even hoping to get in.
Ultimately 1,500 guests and 2,000 reporters were in attendance when the couple finally
tied the knot.
Cracks Began To Form In Their Relationship
While Mansfield and Hargitay enjoyed a relatively happy and prosperous marriage for the first
few years as they lived at their Beverly Hills mansion which came to be known as The Pink
Palace, troubles began to arise that would ultimately prove to be the undoing of their
union.
Before their marriage began to sour, however, Jayne and Mickey had 3 children together.
By the early 60s, though, Jane began seeking the comfort of other men outside of her marriage.
20th Century Fox also notably didn't approve of Mansfield and Hargitay's marriage.
Mansfield's career had begun in the 1950s when she was carefully groomed by the studio
to become the successor to Marilyn Monroe.
Her image was carefully maintained by the studio and resulted in a string of roles for
the bombshell in comedies where she essentially played the classic dumb blonde.
It was through this image coupled with her iconic measurements that Mansfield was able
to craft this larger-than-life image in the early 50s.
This image continued to work for her and 20th Century Fox until she married Hargitay.
The studio wanted their sex-symbol star to be unmarried.
The marriage didn't fit in with their image of her as a submissive sexpot.
But even though, they tried their best to present her as some kind of bimbo, in truth,
Mansfield was quite intelligent – some reports even put her IQ at 168.
But even though Mansfield managed to outsmart 20th Century Fox and ultimately marry the
man of her dreams, after giving birth to her children, as we mentioned previously, she
started carrying on affairs with some of her fellow co-stars.
One of these infidelities included a fling with Mansfield's It Happened in Athens co-stars
Trax Colan in 1960.
During the production of her film Panic Button in 1962, Mansfield also had a passionate affair
with the films production manager Enrica Bomba.
At that point, she decided to file for a divorce from Hargitay, The pair reconciled in 1963,
but that didn't solve their problems, nor did Mansfield stop getting involved in romances
with other men.
Around this time, Mansfield reportedly even hooked up with President John F. Kennedy – although
this accusation has come under question in the years that have followed.
In 1964, Mansfield filed for divorce once again – this time announcing the news to
the public with Hargitay by her side, unaware that she was planning to leave him.
After successfully divorcing Hargitay, Mansfield got married to her third husband, Matt Cimber.
Hargitay, likewise, would go on to marry his third wife, Ellen Siano, in 1967.
Hargitay would remain with Siano until his death in 2006 at the age of 80.
Mansfield, however, would tragically die much sooner than he would.
In 1967, Manfield got into an automobile accident while driving to New Orleans after making
an appearance at an engagement at the Gus Stevens Supper Club in Biloxi, Mississippi.
She and her driver, 20-year-old Ronnie Harrison, as well as her attorney and companion, Sam
Brody, were killed when the Buick they were in crashed at high speed into the back of
a tractor-trailer that had suddenly slowed down when it came upon a truck that was spraying
mosquito foggier that clouded its visibility.
Mansfield's three children, Miklos, Zoltan, and Mariska, were in the backseat of the car
and fortunately survived the ordeal.
Manfield was only 34 years old when she died.
What a tragic ending to such a highly publicized life and career.
Mickey Hargitay was reportedly devastated when he learned the fate of his ex-wife.
Their marriage may not have worked out in the end, but he never stopped caring about
her.
Anyway, we're just about out of time for this video, but that just means that it's now your
turn to let your voice be heard.
Do you think that Mickey Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield were as significant as a Hollywood
power couple as the media made them out to be?
And can you think of any other Tinseltown power couples from the late 50s and early
60s that were equally as prolific as they were?
Share your thoughts in the comments section down below.
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