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Boston Globe
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Boston Globe
In ‘My Mom Jayne,' Mariska Hargitay makes peace with the mother she never knew
Hargitay admits to having problems with her mother's public image. Mansfield was primarily known as a blonde bombshell, a more buxom answer to Marilyn Monroe. She appeared in films like the massively entertaining 1956 Frank Tashlin comedy, 'The Girl Can't Help It' and was the first Hollywood studio actor to do a nude scene (in 1963's 'Promises, Promises'). She reprised her role in the Broadway hit 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter' for Tashlin's 1957 big screen adaptation. She also made promotional appearances, dressing in tight outfits and speaking in the squeaky voice she used to highlight her image as 'America's smartest dumb blonde.' Mariska Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield in 'My Mom Jayne.' Allan Grant/WB 'My Mom Jayne' informs the viewer that Mansfield was smarter than her Hollywood persona portrayed — she spoke five languages and was a classically trained violinist who also played piano. Hargitay provides clips of her mother playing the violin on 'The Ed Sullivan Show,' where she's treated respectfully, and on 'The Jack Paar Show,' where she is not. Sullivan provides her with a five-piece backup orchestra, while Paar interrupts her violin playing to sexually harass her on camera. Advertisement Mansfield wasn't just a comic actor and singer. In Paul Wendkos' film noir 'The Burglar,' she held her own against Dan Duryea in a rare dramatic role. Though she proved herself a versatile actor on stage, Hollywood's inability to cast her as anything but a stereotype led her into depression and alcoholism. Her numerous relationships also generated ruthless Hollywood gossip. Hargitay chronicles all this information for those unfamiliar with Mansfield's career. But 'My Mom Jayne' is mostly about its director's reckoning with her unresolved maternal issues. She admits that this is the first time she and her siblings sat down to discuss their mother, and they're doing it on camera. Being the oldest, Jayne Marie provides the clearest picture of Mansfield, while the brothers recall what Hargitay was like as a child. From Zoltan, we learn that he inadvertently saved Mariska's life. Both of them were in the car on June 28, 1967, when the accident that claimed Mansfield's life occurred. After being rescued, Zoltan asked 'where's Maria?' (Hargitay was known as Maria at the time), which led to the rescuers discovering her trapped under a seat in the car. Mariska Hargitay in 'My Mom Jayne.' WB Plenty of scandalous books were written about Mansfield after her death, and Mickey Hargitay advised his daughter not to read any of them. Perhaps he had another reason for that warning. Mansfield's press agent, Raymond 'Rusty' Strait, appears in a few scenes to discuss working with his famous client. Strait is 99 years old and the author of a 1992 book that alleged that singer Nelson Sardelli was actually Mariska's father. Advertisement 'My Mom Jayne' confirms this, and also reveals that Hargitay discovered the truth before Strait wrote his book. In the film's angriest moment, she confronts Strait, asking him if he had the right to reveal this information in his book. Though the film gives Jayne Mansfield her much-deserved due, it far too often feels like we're flies on the wall during a slew of therapy sessions. The viewer is kept at a distance, simply because there's no entry point for us in this story. 'My Mom Jayne' is so personal that the only conclusion gleaned is that Hargitay had a more emotionally fulfilling time making this documentary than you will have watching it. MY MOM JAYNE Directed by Mariska Hargitay. On HBO. Odie Henderson is the Boston Globe's film critic.
USA Today
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- USA Today
Mariska Hargitay finds peace revealing family secrets in new documentary
The 'Law & Order: SVU' star writes love letter to father Mickey Hargitay and reveals biological father Nelson Sardelli. Mariska Hargitay embarks on a family journey to honor her mother, the 1950s movie star and pinup model Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay, 61, was just 3 and survived the infamous 1967 car crash that killed Mansfield, but has no memory of her famous mom. Yet shining light and love into the misunderstood Mansfield's life is just part of the emotionally powerful revelations in "My Mom Jayne," an HBO documentary directed and produced by the "Law & Order: SVU" star (June 27, 8 ET/PT). Hargitay unveils a long-held family secret: that her biological father is singer Nelson Sardelli, not Mickey Hargitay, the former Mr. Universe bodybuilder and Mansfield's second husband, who lovingly raised Mariska. This life-altering discovery profoundly impacted her world three decades ago. Now, Hargitay talks about it for the first time in the documentary and introduces her newly disclosed family. 'I'm not going to lie – it's been quite a bumpy ride getting here. But it has paid off,' Hargitay tells USA TODAY. 'I don't have the words for what I've gone through, but I feel fortified. We all have things we're scared to approach in our lives. But when you actually go through the door and shed light on it, beauty can come from the scariest place.' Hargitay felt she would 'spontaneously combust' when she learned about her biological father Hargitay, who has starred as fierce yet compassionate Lt. Olivia Benson on "SVU" since the NBC procedural debuted in 1999, avoided the career pitfalls her mother fell into a generation before. The talented, multilingual Mansfield was typecast as a ditzy platinum blonde after appearing in hit films like "The Girl Can't Help It" (1956) and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" (1957). When Hargitay started acting in the '80s, her devoted father, Mickey ("my role model and mentor'), guided her career. 'He told me, 'Nobody tells you who you are,'' Hargitay says. 'Because that's exactly what happened to my mother. They told her, 'We're going to put you in this box.' My dad planted this little tough guy in my head who asked, 'What do you want to do in this world?'' During a meeting with a longtime Mansfield fan in the '90s. Hargitay was shown a photo of Sardelli. She immediately recognized the Brazilian-born Italian singer was her biological father on a "cellular level, in such a profound way." 'I felt like I was going to spontaneously combust,' says Hargitay, who calls the documentary a love letter to Mickey. 'I built my entire life and identity based on my father. But always knew that something wasn't right. Like, why didn't I have his nose? He had this beautiful Roman nose, and I have a little boxer nose. I always felt different.' Newspapers chronicled Sardelli and Mansfield's brief European relationship in 1963 during an estrangement and initial divorce proceedings with Hargitay. But Mansfield and Hargitay reunited, and Mariska was born months later, before the couple finally divorced in 1964. There had been Hollywood whispers that Sardelli was Hargitay's biological father, including a mention in a tell-all book about the "tragic secret life" of Mansfield written by her former publicist, Rusty Strait. But Mickey, who died in 2006, angrily denied his daughter's Sardelli revelation when she approached him. Still, the young actress, who had already appeared on shows like "Seinfeld," drove to Atlantic City to confront Sardelli in 1994. The shocked entertainer immediately confirmed the secret. 'He told me, 'I have been waiting for this moment for 30 years,'' says Hargitay, who foreshadowed Benson's "SVU" grit in the exchange. 'I needed him to know, 'I have a father. I don't want anything from you. I just needed to understand.'' The two talked all night and agreed to keep their secret out of the public eye. Hargitay met and has bonded with Sardelli's two daughters, Giovanna and Pietra, from his 47-year marriage. 'He promised me he would never tell anyone,' Hargitay says. 'And he didn't. That was his gift to me – and to my sisters. I'm still staggered by that. And the rest is history.' Who is interviewed in 'My Mom Jayne' documentary? For the documentary, Hargitay interviewed her older brothers, Mickey Jr. and Zoltan, whom Mickey raised following Mansfield's tragic death at age 34. The siblings express adoration for their famous parents in the complicated, often heartbreaking tale. 'I could do a documentary on every single person in this film,' Hargitay says. Also featured are half-sister Jayne Marie Mansfield (from Mansfield's first marriage to Paul Mansfield) and her half-brother, Tony Cimber (from Mansfield's third marriage to director Matt Cimber). One of Hargitay's first interviews was with Sardelli, 90, who often appears alongside his daughters. 'I'm very, very close to my sisters,' says Hargitay. 'And we are so similar, it's crazy. My God, talk about the power of DNA.' Revealing the onetime family secret has been "cathartic," Hargitay says. 'I realize this doesn't have the power or hold on me that it did. I feel like this 1,000-pound weight has been lifted.' The documentary premiered to raves and standing ovations at the Cannes International Film Festival in May and became a must-attend event at the Tribeca Film Festival on June 13. Stars and friends, including Cher, Jamie Lee Curtis, and "SVU" costar Christopher Meloni, attended the American premiere, which also featured Hargitay's extended family. Her newly disclosed biological father and half-sisters joyfully walked the red carpet. Hargitay calls her relationship with Sardelli 'close, beautiful, and respectful.' During the madness around planning the Tribeca premiere at Carnegie Hall (which the violin-playing Jayne Mansfield had dreamed of playing), Sardelli checked in by email. In her reply, the unburdened Hargitay reveled in the joy of the newly open relationship. 'I said to him that some things are worth the wait, and the weight,' says Hargitay, tearfully recalling the memory. 'And then he wrote back, 'I love you very much.' It's such a magical story.'
Los Angeles Times
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Los Angeles Times
In ‘My Mom Jayne,' Mariska Hargitay grapples with a secret and her mother's choices
That Mariska Hargitay is the daughter of Jayne Mansfield is one of those things everyone who knows anything about either of them seems to know — in some cases maybe the only thing. Even Hargitay — who was only 3 years old when, in 1967, her mother died in a road accident, which she and two brothers survived — had much to learn about her, and she spent most of her life not learning it. Now, in her inquisitive 60s, she has put that belated search 'to know her not as the sex symbol Jayne Mansfield but just as Jayne, my mom, Jayne' into a sad, sweet, generous documentary film, appropriately titled 'My Mom Jayne,' which comes to HBO Friday. Other than a few photos and contextless clips, Hargitay does not turn a spotlight on her own career, perhaps assuming that 26 seasons of 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit' speak for themselves. (In 2024, she was the highest-paid actress in television.) A quarter of the way through the 21st century, Mansfield will be mostly known to connoisseurs of mid-century tabloid culture and fans of Frank Tashlin, who directed her in the relatively big-budget films 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?,' in which she had appeared on Broadway, and 'The Girl Can't Help It,' from which Paul McCartney learned Eddie Cochran's 'Twenty Flight Rock,' impressing John Lennon enough to let him into his group. Many will have seen a much-reproduced photograph of Sophia Loren giving side-eye to Mansfield pouring out of a dress at a Hollywood function without being able to identify either of them. Such are the sorrows of passing time. Documentaries in which the director uses film as a way to approach some unknown aspect of family history are not uncommon. There are, for example, Sarah Polley's 'Stories We Tell,' which, like 'My Mom Jayne' deals with late-discovered questions of parentage; Carl Colby's 'The Man Nobody Knew: In Search of My Father, CIA Spymaster William Colby'; 'Bright Leaves,' Ross McElwee's film about his family's involvement in the tobacco business; and '2 or 3 Things I Know About Him,' in which German director Malte Ludin unpacks the story of a high-ranking Nazi father. There's nothing that dark in Hargitay's family history, but there is trauma and tragedy: for the actor, who wanted to be taken seriously, and did try, finally, to course-correct her image; for the person, who suffered from what was probably depression, turned to alcohol and pills, made some bad choices in men and died young, at 34; and for the children she left behind, trying to make real a person they barely knew, or don't remember at all — to fill 'this little hole in my heart,' says Hargitay. Mansfield, who moved from Texas to Hollywood in hopes of becoming a dramatic actor was instead remade in the image of Marilyn Monroe, the age's signature big-breasted blond bombshell. Auditioning for Paramount casting head Milton Lewis, she said, 'He just seemed to think that I was wasting, as he said, my obvious talents. And he lightened my hair and tightened my dresses, and this is the result.' A willingness to pose for cheesecake pictures, at a time when movie magazines proliferated and men's magazines were coming on, sealed that deal: 'I used my pinup-type publicity to get my foot in the door. … I use it as a means to an end.' That she was more than a pinup was not even then a secret — a Life magazine cover story at the time of 'Rock Hunter' called her 'Broadway's smartest dumb blonde.' Appearing on Groucho Marx's TV show 'Tell It to Groucho,' the host — who had appeared in the film of 'Rock Hunter,' says, 'You're not the dumb blond that you pretend to be. I think that people ought to know that you're really a bright, sentimental and understanding person. This is a whole facade of yours that isn't based on what you actually are. This is a kind of act that you do, isn't it?' And yet it didn't matter whether she was smarter than the characters she played, or the character she played in public, or that she spoke multiple languages and could play the piano and the violin. ('Who cares? Kiss me!' said Jack Paar, interrupting her as she played the latter.) It made her seem like a contradiction in terms, a performing seal, rather than a complex human being. As to her daughter: 'At a certain point I began to carry a lot of shame about her image as a sex symbol and all the choices that came with that. So I pushed the idea of my mom further and further away from my life.' She decided that her own career would look very different. Mariska was born near the end of Mansfield's marriage to Mickey Hargitay, a Hungarian athlete and adagio dancer, who became Mr. Universe after moving to America; it seems to have been a loving relationship, even after their divorce. But in her 20s, Mariska became aware, independently, that her biological father was an Italian nightclub entertainer named Nelson Sardelli. She was angry, she says, at her dead mother 'for leaving me in this mess. And for hurting my father. And for leaving me feeling so alone and untethered.' At the same time, she wondered whether her biological father knew about her, and if he did, 'Why didn't he claim me?' At 30, she went to Atlantic City where he was performing, and said, 'I understand you knew my mother.' She told Mickey about the meeting — he was aware of the facts, which he had kept secret — and he was so upset that she never brought it up again. ('Don't read the books about your mother,' he had told her earlier. They're 'full of lies.') Ironically, her mother's wayward romantic life left Hargitay with a passel of siblings, all of whom are present here, and with whom she seems fairly to very close: older sister Jayne Marie Mansfield, from Mansfield's first marriage; brothers Zoltan Hargitay and Mickey Hargitay Jr., with whom she grew up; Tony Cimber, Jayne's son from her brief third marriage, to director Matt Cimber, when the family temporarily became 'Italian' and Mariska became Maria; and sisters Giovanna and Pietra Sardelli, from her biological father's marriage. ('I don't know how the hell you got me to do this,' says Mickey Jr., sitting for his interview.) Stepmother Ellen Hargitay fills in a lot of holes, without claiming to know everything about everything. (Mickey Hargitay — 'my rock' — died in 2006.) Although the substance of the film is not manufactured, there is art in the presentation. Clips representing Mansfield's rise to fame are scored darkly, as if to say, this was not the way to go. Because the director is an actor, she knows how to be on camera; her siblings are less … professional, but make strong individual impressions. Hargitay is careful to let everyone have their own say, or keep silent, but these discussions, seemingly had for the first time, are inevitably dramatic and often very moving. There are a few visual effects, to indicate hazy memories, and a through line built around a white piano decorated with cherubim, which ends the film on a happy note. One of Hargitay's themes is the toxicity of fame, especially when it's awarded not for your accomplishments but your attributes. (Edward R. Murrow describes Mansfield as 'the most photographed woman in show business,' a superlative she certainly encouraged.) But we get glimpses of a woman who, like her daughter, we'd like to know more of. Jayne Marie remembers accompanying her to visit wounded soldiers at Walter Reed hospital. She's great in the Tashlin comedies, playing off her public image, but also providing glimpses of the person inside it, while a scene from 'The Wayward Bus,' based on a John Steinbeck novel, demonstrates that given the chance, she could handle straight drama. With better management, or being born into a different time — actors nowadays indulge in cheesecake without being defined by it, as the talk shows and red carpets repeatedly demonstrate — she might have been taken as seriously as she had hoped to be. But that's a story for a different universe.
New York Post
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Post
Mariska Hargitay reveals shocking family secret she's hidden for 30 years in ‘My Mom Jayne' doc
Her dad Nelson. Mariska Hargitay's new documentary, 'My Mom Jayne,' doesn't just explore the life of her famous mom, actress Jayne Mansfield. The film, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17, also reveals the real identity of her biological father. For the first time, the 'Law & Order: SVU' has revealed that her father is not actually bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay. Thirty-six years ago, she found out her biological dad is a retired Las Vegas showman named Nelson Sardelli. Advertisement 'It was like the floor fell out from underneath me,' she said of learning of the truth, stating that she was 'living a lie' for decades. 'Like my infrastructure dissolved.' Mansfield had a brief affair with Sardelli, 90, before she reconciled with Mickey. She and Mickey divorced in 1964. 5 WireImage for Universal Television Productions Advertisement 5 Bettmann Archive Jayne also was mom to daughter Jayne Marie with first husband Paul Mansfield, sons Miklós 'Mickey' and Zoltán with Mickey and son Antonio 'Tony' with third husband, Italian movie director Matt Cimber. Mariska recalled seeing a picture of Sardelli in her 20s and demanding the truth. Ticket initially insisted that he was her biological father. He later died at age 8- in 2006. Mariska would go on to meet Sardelli for the first time when he performed in Atlantic City, N.J. She was 30 years old at the time. Advertisement 'I've been waiting 30 years for this moment,' the actress recalled him saying during an interview with Vanity Fair. 5 Photo 12/Alamy Stock Photo/Courtesy of HBO Although emotional, Hargitay had a difficult time with their exchange and began to act like her iconic NBC character. '[I went] full Olivia Benson on him,' she told the outlet. 'I was like, 'I don't want anything, I don't need anything from you.… I have a dad, ' ' she recalled telling him. 'There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey.' Advertisement Sardelli and his other two daughters — Mariska's half sisters — participated in the documentary, in addition to Mariska's other siblings Jayne Marie and Tony. At 61, the actress felt that there was no need to keep the identity of her biological father a secret from the public any longer. 'I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me,' she said. 'I'm Mickey Hargitay's daughter — that is not a lie.' 5 AFP via Getty Images Mariska further opens up about the loss of her mom in her doc, which she directed. On June 29, 1967, Mansfield died instantly in a car crash when the car she was riding in struck the rear of a trailer truck on US Route 90 east in New Orleans, Louisiana. Driver Ronald B. Harrison and Mansfield's companion, Samuel S. Brody, were also killed. Mariska, was just 3 years old at the time, and her siblings Mickey Jr., 8, and Zoltan, 6, all survived the crash. Mansfield appeared in more than two dozen films during her career, including 1956's 'The Girl Can't Help It' and 1957's 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?' 5 Natacha Pisarenko/Invision/AP Advertisement 'My mother was this amazing, beautiful, glamorous sex symbol — but people didn't know that she played the violin and had a 160 IQ and had five kids and loved dogs,' Mariska told People in 2018. 'She was just so ahead of her time. She was an inspiration, she had this appetite for life, and I think I share that with her.' Mariska, for her part, has been married to fellow actor and 'Younger' alum Peter Hermann since 2004. The couple are parents of three children — August Miklos Friedrich, born 2006, Amaya Josephine Hermann, born 2011, and Andrew Nicolas Hermann, born 2011. 'My Mom Jayne' will be released on HBO on June 27.
Express Tribune
18-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Express Tribune
Mariska Hargitay reveals biological father's identity during Cannes premiere of ‘My Mom Jayne'
Mariska Hargitay made an emotional appearance at the Cannes Film Festival on Saturday for the premiere of her HBO documentary My Mom Jayne. The documentary, which marks Hargitay's directorial debut, honours the life of her late mother, Jayne Mansfield. The screening concluded with a four-minute standing ovation, underscoring the film's emotional impact. In a personal moment, Hargitay revealed that her biological father is Italian singer Nelson Sardelli, not Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her and was married to Mansfield. This is the first time Hargitay has publicly addressed her parentage. 'Tonight I'm celebrating the power that film has for me to remember somebody I didn't have the good fortune to know or grow up with,' Hargitay said during her introduction to the film. Jayne Mansfield, a Hollywood star of the 1950s, was known for roles in The Girl Can't Help It and Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Beyond her image as a glamorous screen icon, Mansfield was a talented and intelligent performer who later found success as a nightclub act. Hargitay was three years old when Mansfield died in a tragic car crash. The accident also involved Hargitay and her brothers, who survived. These early life experiences have shaped Hargitay's long-standing advocacy work. As Olivia Benson in Law & Order: SVU, she has portrayed a committed advocate for survivors for more than 550 episodes. My Mom Jayne offers a fresh view of Mansfield's life and legacy through Hargitay's perspective as both daughter and director. The film adds depth to the public understanding of Mansfield's life, celebrating her not just as a celebrity but as a woman and mother.
