Mariska Hargitay is no stranger to Hollywood. The daughter of actress Jayne Mansfield and former Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay, Mariska has drawn several comparisons to her famous parents over the years, and she often honors them on social media. Here's what you need to know…
Jayne Mansfield
An American actress and former Playboy Playmate, Jaye Mansfield was revered as a Hollywood bombshell. Shooting to stardom during the '50s and '60s, the Pennsylvania native appeared in The Girl Can't Help It (1956), The Wayward Bus (1957), Too Hot to Handle (1960) and A Guide for the Married Man (1967).
A mother of five, Jayne welcomed her first daughter, Jayne, with her first husband, Paul Mansfield. During her six-year marriage to Mickey Hargitay, the star then welcomed sons Miklós and Zoltán, and daughter Mariska. After tying the knot with Matt Cimber, Jayne became a mother for the fifth time, with the arrival of their son Tony.
Tragically, when Jayne was just 34 years old, she died in a car accident on her way to New Orleans. Jayne's partner at the time, Sam Brody, was also killed in the crash, as was driver Ronald B. Harrison. Three of her children – Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska – were in the back seat at the time but managed to survive with minor injuries.
In a 2018 interview with People magazine, Mariska spoke about losing her mother. "The way I've lived with loss is to lean into it," she began. "As the saying goes, the only way out is through. "I'm not saying it's easy, and it certainly hasn't been for me. There's been a lot of darkness. But on the other side things can be so bright."
"She was an inspiration, she had this appetite for life, and I think I share that with her," added Mariska.
Mickey Hargitay
Following her mother's death, Jayne was raised in Los Angeles by her dad, Mickey Hargitay, and her stepmother, Ellen, along with two brothers and three half-siblings.
Born in Budapest, Hungary, in 1926, Mickey famously won the National Amateur Body-Builders' Association Mr. Universe award in 1955. A celebrated bodybuilder, he then launched a successful acting career in 1957, appearing in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), The Love of Hercules (1960) and Revenge of The Gladiators (1964).
Married three times, Mickey first wed acrobat Mary Birge and welcomed his oldest daughter, Tina. Following their divorce, he met and fell for Jayne Mansfield, with whom he shares Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska. With the pair divorced in 1964, he then tied the knot with Ellen Siano in 1968. They remained married until his passing in 2006.
"The message I got from my father was that life is hard, but you just don't quit," Mariska recalled to Closer in 2018. "I'd get an audition and he'd say, 'How hard are you going to work for it?' So I pushed myself even when I didn't feel like pushing myself. I acted confident even when I wasn't. And slowly… I became more confident."