Real-life twist? Mariska Hargitay reveals her own discovery that Mickey Hargitay wasn't her biological father
Mariska Hargitay has recently shared the deeply personal story of discovering that her late father, actor Mickey Hargitay, was not her biological parent. The "Law & Order: SVU" star, raised by Hargitay alongside her siblings after her mother Jayne Mansfield's tragic 1967 death, recounted the moment she learned the truth during the "Call Her Daddy" podcast. She described driving to a house Mickey was physically building for her, hysterically confronting him with the news. His initial denial and visible panic, the 'blood draining out of his face,' confirmed her fears, leaving her feeling her identity was 'smashed'.
'I went up to my dad's house and I was hysterically crying and in a state and he was — how about this metaphor, my dad was physically building me a house. So, I drive up to the house that he is building me and confront him,' Mariska was quoted as saying during her appearance on the 'Call Her Daddy' podcast, as per a NY Post report.
'He was like, 'What are you talking about? Are you crazy? That's so not true," Mariska.
'The irony is that I'm more like my dad than anyone in our whole family. I am mini-Mickey, so it was just a very extraordinarily painful moment, I say that this is the moment that I became an adult and it's so visceral for me because I was in so much pain. I was so overwhelmed. It doesn't matter what I feel, I love him … and we're done here, we're done here. I pretended that I believed him, and we never spoke of it again," Mariska also said, according to NY Post's report.
Hargitay traced the revelation to an intense, instinctive moment. While visiting a collector with Jayne Mansfield memorabilia, hearing the name Nelson Sardelli triggered an immediate, profound "jolt." "I knew in one second," she stated, attributing it to subconscious memories pieced together over her life. Asking "Who's Nelson?" led her to confirm Sardelli, a 90-year-old comedian and singer, as her biological father after seeing his photo. She recently shared this publicly with Vanity Fair ahead of her HBO documentary "My Mom Jayne," which explores this family secret through conversations with her siblings and Mansfield's other children.
The documentary delves into the complex family history, including Mansfield's divorce from Mickey Hargitay in 1964. Mansfield had actually filed in 1962, but upon discovering she was pregnant with Mariska, the couple temporarily reconciled and delayed announcing the divorce until after her birth.
Mariska first met Sardelli emotionally in 1994 in New Jersey, where he told her, "I've been waiting 30 years for this moment." The film features her siblings, including Mickey Hargitay Jr., Zoltán, Tina (Mickey's daughter from another marriage), Jayne Marie (Mansfield's first daughter), and Tony (Mansfield's son with Matt Cimber).
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