Reel Rundown: Documentary pays tribute to mother, sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, who died in car accident
Like many of us, Mariska Hargitay was born into a web of family secrets.
The longtime star of “Law & Order: SVU” first began suspecting at the age of 12 that there was something more to her family history. But it took more than a decade and a half for her to discover what that something was.
And even then, she kept quiet for another three decades to protect the man, Mickey Hargitay, whom she considered her “rock” and who raised her following the death of her mother, the actress and internationally recognized sex symbol Jayne Mansfield.
But in the documentary feature that she directed titled “My Mom Jayne,” which is streaming through Amazon Prime, Mariska Hargitay finally reveals all. And the truth she unveils doesn’t apply just to the mother she never really knew but also to the biological father she had never met
It was on June 29, 1969, that Mansfield died, killed in a car crash that took the lives of her then-lover, the divorce attorney Sam Brody and the car’s driver. Three of the children, Mickey Hargitay Jr., Zoltan Hargitay and 3-year-old Mariska (then called Maria), were in the back seat – and all survived.
One of the shocking facts that “My Mom Jayne” unveils is that Mariska wasn’t initially discovered. It was only after 6-year-old Zoltan inquired about his sister that the first-responders went back and found her lodged under the passenger’s seat.
The other surprise is that her biological father isn’t Hargitay at all but a man named Nelson Sardelli. An Italian singer, Sardelli had engaged in a short-term affair with Mansfield during a time when she was separated from Hargitay (her second of three husbands). One of the documentary’s most moving moments comes near the end when director Hargitay interviews Sardelli and his two daughters, both of whom are Hargitay’s half-sisters.
Much of the film otherwise is an exploration into just who Mansfield was. More to the point, it details how an attractive, ambitious, young Texas mother found a way to not only attract the attention of Hollywood but to forge an actual career.
But that simple scenario doesn’t begin to explain Mansfield’s story. Because even though she had other talents – she could dance, play the violin and piano and had some skill as an actress – it was her physical features that movie producers were most interested in exploiting.
And it worked. Mansfield’s famous 40-21-35 dimensions, coupled with the “dumb-blond” mannerisms she affected, transformed her into an alternate version of Marilyn Monroe. Soon enough, she was starring on stage and in the movies.
But her success wouldn’t last. Not only did her marriages keep failing but her career ultimately stalled, forcing her to do stage shows and, at times, embarrassing television interviews with the likes of Jack Paar and Merv Griffin. It also led to the typical Hollywood cliché of a struggling star turning to alcohol for comfort before her untimely death at the tender age of 34.
All of this is covered in Hargitay’s documentary, the pain and loss, discovery and finally appreciation. Just as important, though, is her own life story. How she spent years wondering about her mother and ignorant of her biological father even as she herself forged an acting career.
That Hargitay has been a series television star for 26 years is a sign of her own talent and determination. Now she has become a film director, adding a feature documentary to the nine episodes of “Law & Order: SVU” that she has helmed.
In doing so, she pays tribute to her mother while unlocking the family secrets that had been kept hidden for so long.