With an above-average IQ and heart-stopping curves, she dyed herself blonde to be the natural heir to Marilyn Monroe. Her love life and her tragic ending made Jayne Mansfield a Hollywood legend.
Jayne Mansfield He had everything to be one of the great legends of golden Hollywood, who loved those blonde women with exuberant curves that exuded sensuality. But sharing time, traits, love affairs and even a tragic ending with Marilyn Monroe came to eclipse this actress born in Pennsylvania on April 19, 90 years ago.
Hers was not a childhood marked by poverty, quite the opposite: she was the daughter of a lawyer of English and German descent and her mother was also of British origin. Her early years were spent in New Jersey, where her father worked alongside the governor, and she soon inherited a large fortune from her maternal grandparents.
the little one Vera Jayne, far from wanting to follow in her father’s footsteps, was clear that she wanted to be a Hollywood star a la Shirley Temple. She was a very good student, and to her studies she added dance, piano, violin, German and Spanish classes. At just 17 years old, before making her way into the world of acting, she married Paul Mansfield, and had her first daughter. She moved to Los Angeles to study Drama and dyed herself blonde but she returned to Texas with her husband and she began to take her first steps in the theater, alternating it with jobs as a book seller, model or receptionist. At that time, she also won several beauty pageants.
Her striking curves were not always her friends. At the start of his career, his 40-inch chest made him Some advertisers will reject her for having too big a chest. It is enough to remember the iconic image of Sofia Loren looking at her bust to understand why it was impossible not to notice it. Mansfield did not find it easy to break through, after her first auditions with Paramount and Warner. was the magazine Playboy the one that gave her fame in those years, being the Playmate of the month and posing in numerous numbers.
His first role was in the movie The Hangover, the momentum needed to land a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers. Her rise in her Hollywood mecca led her to file for divorce from her husband, and after several roles of hers, Warner Brothers terminated her contract with her. But since there is no evil that does not come for good, Twentieth Century-Fox signed her thinking of her as the perfect replacement for Marilyn Monroe. The great Hollywood star never felt affection for her, quite the contrary, and although they did not maintain a relationship and Monroe always complained that Mansfield dedicated himself to imitating her in a sick way.
A blonde at the top it was his first starring role and also a huge box office success. With her role in The Wayward Bus won a Golden Globe and was recognized for The New York Times as his best performance. Then came the film version of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? the play with which he had triumphed on Broadway, and which led him to meet Elizabeth II during its premiere in London.
The Blonde and the Sheriff it was his last big hit in 1958. Mansfield had difficulties fulfilling his contract with Warners due to his pregnancies and he lost that sign of a big Hollywood star, participating in low-budget European films. And it is that the actress had a love life almost as troubled as the cinematographic one. Her second husband was actor and Mister Universe Mickey Hargitay, with whom she had three children, including actress Mariska Hargitay. And she had her fifth child with film director Matt Cimber.
Their marriages did not prevent them from having various romances, and one of the most famous was with John Kennedy. Peter Lawford, actor and JFK’s brother-in-law, was in charge of introducing them and she was quick to assure her friends that she had had relations with the president. Again, Mansfield seemed to be living Marilyn’s life.
In 1967, at just 34 years old, Jayne died in a traffic accident, when her car crashed into a truck trailer. Along with her, her lawyer, Sam Brody, who was her partner at the time, died, and three of her children, who were traveling with her, were saved from her. The actress not only went down to posterity because of her films and her love, as a result of that accident the road safety code was modified and trailers were forced to install a bumper that is still known as a Mansfield bar.
Source: Fotogramas
Jason Root is a writer at Gossipify, known for his in-depth coverage of famous people in entertainment, sports, and politics. He has a passion for uncovering the stories behind the headlines and bringing readers an inside look at the lives of the famous. He has been writing for Gossipify for several years and has a degree in Journalism from UC Berkeley.
