Jayne Mansfield: The family from beginning to end

At an early age Vera Jayne Palmer was certain that some day in her future she would become a star. Even throughout her childhood starting at a very early age, she was eager to perform one of her many talents to most any person who cared to watch for a moment and as she grew older this desire to entertain others progressed to the extent that she would be known by many people around the world as the famous, ever popular star we now know as Jayne Mansfield.

Jayne was born in New Jersey and lived there with her mother and father until her father passed away when she was three years old. After a while her mother decided to get re-married and the newly formed family would be moved to Dallas, Texas. Jayne graduated high school in Texas and married Paul Mansfield which is when she officially gained the name and became the persona we know Jayne Mansfield, which is the name that most people know her by.

Jayne studied dramatics at several different universities over the years. During the time she was attending studies at the universities Jayne decided it would be nice to enter some type of competitive pageants. She competed in several pageants and won many of them which added a few little titles to her status. She also performed in some small productions. It has been noted that she did once in fact reject an opportunity to be titled “Miss Roquefort Cheese” basically because she didn’t like the way it sounded, however that is the only title that anyone knows of her refusing. She loved to be the center of attention and she done very well at playing the role of being the center of attention.

Jayne and Paul began their own family when Jayne was just a mere 17 years old. She put her dreams on hold for a brief period and flamed them again in 1954 when she convinced Paul that their family would benefit greatly from a move to Los Angeles. Paul agreed to move to California but soon after the move the two would divorce and Paul would move back.

Jayne attended drama courses at UCLA and her career was already at a great start. She was in several films and had a good run going for her in the Broadway acting productions. In 1956 she signed a contract with 20th Century Fox and began to become famous. It was in 1957 that she won a Golden Globe proving that she was now a great actress just as she had hoped. She was fulfilling her dreams and loved every moment of it.

In 1958 Jayne once again found love and married Miklos “Mickey” Hargitay. Mickey and Jayne had many things in common and like Jayne, Mickey was desired by many and was even named Mr. Universe just a short two years prior to his marriage with Jayne. The couple would have three children together before divorcing in 1964. Later Jayne would remarry one final time, to a man named Matt Cimber with whom she would have one child with.

In addition to her marriages Jayne Mansfield had many affairs with a fairly extensive amount of well known men. Any actress with the personal life similar to Jayne’s would have been frowned on however with the type of publicity and supporters that Jayne had it was not something that had a negative impact on her career for the most part.

Jayne’s life was cut very short when she was killed instantly in a car wreck. Three of Jayne’s children were in the wreck with her, as well as two other adults. The three children were the only ones surviving the wreck. Jayne lived to a very young age of just 34 and during her life fulfilled her biggest dreams. It has been said by many that had Jayne lived, she would be the most popular woman to ever have a career in acting. Others have said that her Playboy image would have further progressed and she would be that “Blonde Bombshell” she was once said to be, yet again.


During her short lifetime Jayne became widely known by people around the world. She was a very talented woman and used every once of talent she had in most any way one could dream. From beauty pageants and low-budget films to Broadway and Hollywood performances, Jayne can be seen in a wide range of films as well as many off film performances.

Jayne Mansfield is most widely known (and likely has the most amount of fans from) because of her figure, particularly her breasts, even though initially some had thought her breasts were a negative factor for her. Jayne was the most publicized woman during her time. Often she was compared to Marilyn Monroe.

Jayne performed in several theatre acts including Death of a Salesman, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Rabbit Habit, just to name a few.

She also wrote a book with Mickey Hargitay co-authoring. The book was titles Jayne Mansfield’s Wild, Wild World.

Jayne acted in a large amount of films during her time and has an extensive filmography list. Kiss them for me, Too Hot to Handle and the Loves of Hercules are some of her well known films. Two of the last films she can be seen in would be The Fat Spy (1966), where she plays Junior Wellington and A Guide for the Married Man (1967) where she plays a Technical Advisor.


Jayne’s first film in which she was nude in is titled Promises! Promises! For Jayne this was her very first nude film appearance but for the world it was a turning point in films as this was the very first film featuring a mainstream American actress nude. This made Jayne a major hit, as she was playing the starring role and she was that “first mainstream American Actress to appear nude on film”. Jayne was a very confident woman when it came to her appearance and even though this was her first film in which she appeared nude, photos of her nude breasts had been recorded long before, due to her supposed intentional “accidental” exposures on several different occasions. She was featured in Playboy and even on the Top 10 list of Box Office because of this film which caused a craze of new found fans to pop up across the world. Jayne is said to have been published in Playboy magazine in over 30 different appearances following this film.

Jayne was a woman who was notorious for saying things that no one would expect a blonde American actress of her status to say. She was a very outspoken, comical and blunt person at most times. Fans loved her for it while there were others who thought is was crude of her but this is what had made Jayne the woman that she was, the woman that we knew her as, the personality that people desired to know, the woman that men loved and desired to touch, and most importantly the wonderful actress that made a statement and changed acting as it was for most American women during that period and for those who would become an actress. Jayne was despised by some other actresses and an inspiration and role model to many others.

According to fans a few of Jayne’s most often quoted and loved by most phrases are:

• “Stars were made to suffer, and I am a star.”
• “I like being a pin-up girl, there’s nothing wrong with it.”
• “I will never be satisfied. Life is one constant search for betterment for me.”

While Jayne has a long list of quotes posted in various places these are said to be her most popular and those which identify who she was and what she wanted to be. Her quotes were often blunt and some took them in ways in which she hadn’t meant them to be perceived but that was the thing about Jayne Mansfield that made her different. Some actresses might have been overly upset by the smallest negative thought or comment from a person but not Jayne, she took each comment as an inspiration in where to go next, and how big to do it. She lived in the moment and loved the fame she was given and craved more every second of her life.

Jayne Mansfield: Things That True Fans Know

There are a wide range of facts floating about that the average person wouldn’t necessarily know about Jayne Mansfield. Here are some facts that some might find interesting.

Although Jayne was known as a blonde, her original hair color was brunette. Many people thought that the blonde hair fit her personality nicely though. Many songs have been written about her and she was considered to be a great inspiration to many. When Jayne was killed in the car wreck Sam Brody (another one of her lovers who was also married and her divorce lawyer) was with her.