Physical Address

304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124

Mariska Hargitay jokes only “Younger People” didn’t know that her mother was Jayne Mansfield



Need to know

  • Mariska Hargitay joked that only “younger people” didn’t know that her mother was Jayne Mansfield under a question and answer after a special screening of her documentary My mom Jayne July 17
  • Mansfield, who died in 1967 at the age of 34, was a Hollywood icon playing in movies including Promise! Promise! and Too hot to handle
  • IN My mom JayneThat marked Mariska’s feature film director debut, she examines her mother’s life – and reveals a shocking family secret

Mariska Hargitays mom, Jayne MansfieldMay be a Hollywood icon – but her fan base goes a little older.

While he participated in a question and answer hosted of Hamptonsfilm on Thursday, July 17, Mariska, 61, was about how not everyone knew Mansfield was her mother when her revealing documentary, My mom JaynePremiere earlier this year.

After panel-host Molly Jong-Fast noted that “many people had no idea that (Mansfield) was your mother” even though she is “really, really known,” replied Mariska, “only younger people know. The kids don’t know.”

The discussion followed a special screening of My mom Jayne At Guild Hall in East Hampton. The documentary, who marked Mariska’s feature film director, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival on May 17 before his debut at HBO and Max on June 27.

On one press release Mariska announced the documentary and said: “This movie is a work of love and longing. It is a search for the mother I never knew, an integration of a part of myself that I never owned and a recycling of my mother’s story and my own truth.”

Mariska Hargitay as a baby with her mother, Jayne Mansfield, 1964.

Archive Photos/Getty


Mansfield – that rose to fame as a Playboy model and an actress, known for such films as Too hot to handle and Promise! Promise! – died at the age of 34 in a car accident in 1967. Mariska, which was 3 at that time, and her two older brothers were in the car and survived the accident.

“I have spent my entire life distributing myself from my mother, Jayne Mansfield, the sex symbol,” says Mariska in the movie trailer. “Her career made me want to do it differently, but I want to understand her now.”

“I have no memories about her,” she adds.

In the documentary, Mariska also revealed a shocking family secret that she held for 30 years. She explained that her biological father is not Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her, but rather a former Las Vegas entertainment named Nelson Sardelli.

Mariska Hargitay on Hamptonsfilm Summer Docs series Screening by ‘My Mom Jayne’ on July 17, 2025.

Sonia Moscowitz/Getty


She said Vanity That she first learned about Sardelli when she was 25 and then went to see him perform in Atlantic City, NJ, when she was 30 years old. While Sardelli had an emotional reaction to their meeting and told her: “I have waited for 30 years at this moment” – Mariska grabbed “knowing that I live all my life.”

During his discussion with Jong-Fast on Thursday, Mariska shared that she Spent Father’s Day with Sardelli90, this year.

Never miss a story – register for People’s free daily newsletters Keeping up to date on the best of what people have to offer, from celebrity news to compelling stories of human interest.

“It was so magical,” she remembered. “He apologizes and he said, ‘Thanks for forgiven me.’ And I said, “Thanks for making the choice you made.”

“So it’s like everyone was right in the end, but I grew up without knowing it,” she added.

The panel discussion was part of Hamptonsfilms Summer Docs Screening Series. August 29, Middletown Directors Amanda McBaine and Jesse Moss and film subject Jeff Dutemple will join Hamptons International Film Festival (HIFF) co -chairman Alec Baldwin And artistic director David Nugent in conversation.

Richard Gladstein, the new CEO of Hampton’s and Hiff, told People: “We have a nice platform to show our movies. And why do movies come to film festivals? You create buzz and mouth about your movie. That’s what happens at movie festivals. You discover movies and filmmakers.”



Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *