Jayne mansfield biography youtube
Jayne Mansfield
American actress and Playmate (–)
For her daughter, see Jayne Marie Mansfield.
Jayne Mansfield | |
|---|---|
Mansfield in | |
| Born | Vera Jayne Palmer ()April 19, Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 29, () (aged&#;34) New Orleans, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Resting place | Fairview Cemetery, Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania 40°51′42″N75°14′25″W / °N °W / ; |
| Education | |
| Occupations | |
| Years&#;active | – |
| Spouses |
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| Children | 5, including Jayne and Mariska[1] |
| Awards | |
| Website | |
Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, – June 29, ) was an American actress and Playboy Playmate.
A sex symbol of the s and early s, Mansfield was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. Although her film career was short-lived, she had several box-office successes, and won a Theatre World Award and Golden Globe Award, and soon gained the nickname of Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde."
Mansfield gained popularity after playing the role of fictional actress Rita Marlowe in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (–) on Broadway, which she reprised in the film adaptation of the same name in Her other film roles include the musicalcomedyThe Girl Can't Help It (), the dramaThe Wayward Bus (), the neo-noirToo Hot to Handle (), and the sex comedyPromises!
Promises! (); the latter established Mansfield as one of the first major American actresses to perform in a nude scene in a post-silent era film.
Mansfield took her professional name from her first husband, public relations professional Paul Mansfield. Mansfield married three times, each marriage ending in divorce, and had five children.
She was intimately involved with numerous men, including Robert and John F. Kennedy, her attorney Samuel S. Brody, and Las Vegas entertainer Nelson Sardelli. On June 29, , she died in a traffic collision at the age of [2]
Early life
Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer on April 19, , at Bryn Mawr Hospital in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania,[3][4] the only child of Herbert William Palmer and Vera Jeffrey (née Palmer) Palmer.[5] She inherited more than $90, from her maternal grandfather, Thomas ($, in dollars),[6] and more than $36, from her maternal grandmother, Beatrice Mary Palmer, in ($, in dollars).[7][8][Notes 1]
Until age six, Mansfield lived in Phillipsburg, New Jersey,[10] where her father was an attorney practicing with future New Jersey governor Robert B.
Meyner. In , her father died of a heart attack.
Jayne mansfield biography youtube videos Lovecraft Edward Bernays H. She accepted the part while working in producer Louis W. This shift demonstrated Mansfield's adaptability as she navigated the turbulent waters of fame, showcasing her talents beyond the silver screen while continuing to battle the intense scrutiny of her personal life. The Billings County Pioneer.In , Jayne Mansfield's mother married sales engineer Harry Lawrence Peers and the family moved to Dallas, Texas,[11] where she was known as Vera Jayne Peers.[12] As a child, she wanted to be a Hollywood star like Shirley Temple.[13][14][15] At age 12, Palmer took ballroom dance lessons.[16] She graduated from Highland Park High School in [17][18][19] While in high school, she took violin, piano, and viola lessons.[20] She also studied Spanish and German.[12][21] Palmer received grades in the high Bs in all subjects consistently.[22]
At age 17, she married Paul Mansfield on May 6, [23] Their daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield, was born six months later, on November 8, Jayne and her husband enrolled in Southern Methodist University to study acting.[24][25] In , Jayne moved to Los Angeles and attended a summer semester at UCLA.
She entered the Miss California contest but Paul found out and forced her to withdraw from the competition.[26] She then moved to Austin, Texas, with her husband, and studied dramatics at the University of Texas at Austin.[18][19] There, Mansfield worked as a nude art model, sold books door-to-door, and worked as a receptionist at a dance studio.[27][28] She also joined the Curtain Club,[28] a campus theatrical society that included lyricist Tom Jones, composer Harvey Schmidt, and actors Rip Torn and Pat Hingle among its members.[28][30][31] Mansfield then spent a year at Camp Gordon, Georgia, while her husband Paul served in the United States Army Reserve during the Korean War.[32]
In , she moved back to Dallas and studied acting for several months under Baruch Lumet, the father of director Sidney Lumet and founder of the Dallas Institute of Performing Arts.[33][34][35] Lumet gave Mansfield private lessons and called Mansfield and Rip Torn his "kids".[18][36] Eventually, Lumet helped Jayne get her first screen test at Paramount in April Paul, Jayne, and Jayne Marie moved to Los Angeles in Jayne worked at a variety of odd jobs including: selling popcorn at the Stanley Warner Theatre, teaching dance,[37] selling candy at a movie theater,[38] modeling part-time at the Blue Book Model Agency,[39] and working as a photographer at Esther Williams' Trails Restaurant.[40]
Career
Playboy
| Jayne Mansfield | |
|---|---|
| February | |
| Preceded by | Bettie Page |
| Succeeded by | Marilyn Waltz |
| Height | 5&#;ft 6&#;in (&#;m) (5&#;ft 8&#;in according to her autopsy) |
While attending the University of Texas at Austin, Mansfield won several beauty contests, including Miss Photoflash, Miss Magnesium Lamp, and Miss Fire Prevention Week.
By her own account, the only title she refused was Miss Roquefort Cheese, because she believed it "just didn't sound right".[41] Mansfield later rejected "Miss Prime Rib" in as well. In , while in Dallas, she and Paul Mansfield participated in small local-theater productions of The Slaves of Demon Rum and Ten Nights in a Barroom, and Anything Goes in Camp Gordon, Georgia.
After he left for military service, she made her first significant stage appearance in a production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman on October 22, , with the players of the Knox Street Theater, headed by Lumet.[40] While at UCLA, she entered the Miss California contest (hiding her marital status), and won the local round before withdrawing.
Early in her career, some advertisers considered her prominent breasts undesirable, which led to her losing her first professional assignment – a commercial for General Electric that depicted young women in bathing suits relaxing around a pool.[42] Emmeline Snively, head of the Blue Book Model Agency, had sent her to photographer Gene Lester, which led to her short-lived assignment in the General Electric commercial.
In , she auditioned at both Paramount Pictures and Warner Bros. At Paramount, Jayne performed a sketch she had worked out with Lumet from Joan of Arc for casting director Milton Lewis. Lewis informed her that she was wasting her "obvious talents" and had her come back a week later to perform the piano scene from The Seven Year Itch.
Jayne failed to impress but learned she would have to go blonde. She then performed the piano scene for Warner Brothers, but, again, failed to impress.[43] She landed her first acting assignment in Lux Video Theatre, a series on CBS in the episode "An Angel Went AWOL", aired on October 21, [40] In it, she sat at a piano and delivered a few lines of dialogue for $ ($3, in dollars).[6][44]
In December , Hugh Hefner began publishing Playboy.
The magazine became a success, in part, because of early appearances from Mansfield, Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, and Anita Ekberg.[45] In February , Mansfield was the PlayboyPlaymate of the Month,[46] and appeared in the magazine several times.[47] Her February appearance increased the magazine's circulation and helped boost Mansfield's career.[48][49][50] Shortly afterward, she posed for the Playboy calendar, covering her breasts with her hands.
Playboy featured Mansfield each February from to , and again in [50]
In August , Paul Mansfield sought custody of his daughter, alleging that Jayne was an unfit mother because she appeared nude in Playboy.[51] In , the magazine repeated the pictorial.[50]Playboy reprinted photos from that pictorial issue, with titles such as December 's "The Playboy Portfolio of Sex Stars", and January s "Centerfolds of the Century".[52]
Film
See also: Jayne Mansfield filmography
Mansfield's first film part was a supporting role in Female Jungle, a low-budget drama completed in ten days.
Her part was filmed over a few days, and she was paid $ ($2, in dollars).[6][53] It was released unofficially in early In February , James Byron, her manager and publicist, negotiated a seven-year contract with Warner Brothers, who were intrigued by her publicity antics.[54] The contract initially paid her $ a week ($3, in dollars) and landed her two films – one with an insignificant role and another unreleased for two years.
She filed for separation from Paul Mansfield that January.[52][54] Mansfield was given bit parts in Pete Kelly's Blues (), starring Jack Webb, and Hell on Frisco Bay (), starring Alan Ladd. She acted in one more movie for Warner Brothers – another small but significant role opposite Edward G.
Robinson in the courtroom drama Illegal ().[54]
Mansfield's agent, William Shiffrin, signed her to play fictional film star Rita Marlowe in the Broadway play Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? with Orson Bean and Walter Matthau. The part was offered to her after actress and friend Mamie Van Doren rejected the offer.
She accepted the part while working in producer Louis W. Kellman's The Burglar (), director Paul Wendkos's film adaptation of David Goodis' novel,[55] made in film noir style. Mansfield appeared alongside Dan Duryea and Martha Vickers. It was released two years later, when Mansfield's fame was at its peak.
She was successful in this straight dramatic role, though most of her subsequent film appearances were comedic or capitalized on her sex appeal.[56] It was Kellman's first major venture, and he claimed to have "discovered" Mansfield.[57] She was announced for Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? in mid-July and was dropped by Warner Brothers on July
Twentieth Century-Fox signed Mansfield to a six-year contract on May 3, , in its New York office to mold her as a successor to the increasingly difficult Marilyn Monroe,[58] their resident blonde sex symbol, who had just completed the very difficult Bus Stop. Mansfield was still under contract to Broadway and continued playing Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? on stage until September 15, She undertook her first starring film role as Jerri Jordan in Frank Tashlin's The Girl Can't Help It ().[59] Originally titled Do-Re-Mi, it featured a high-profile cast of contemporary rock and roll and R&B artists including Gene Vincent, Eddie Cochran, Fats Domino, The Platters and Little Richard.[60] Released in December , The Girl Can't Help It became one of the year's biggest successes, both critically and financially, earning more than Gentlemen Prefer Blondes had three years before.[61]
Soon afterward, Fox started promoting Mansfield as "Marilyn Monroe king-sized", attempting to coerce Monroe to return to the studio and complete her contract.[62] Mansfield next played a dramatic role in The Wayward Bus (), an adaptation of John Steinbeck's novel of the same name.
With this film, she attempted to move away from her "blonde bombshell" image and establish herself as a serious actress. The film enjoyed moderate box-office success, and Mansfield won a Golden Globe in for New Star of the Year, beating Carroll Baker and Natalie Wood with her performance as a "wistful derelict".
Jane russell biography: Mansfield is known for helping shape the " dumb blonde " stereotype. Guns song " The Ballad of Jayne ", are about Mansfield and her untimely death. Conspiracy in Camelot. Eugene, Oregon.
It was "generally conceded to have been her best acting", according to The New York Times, in a fitful career hampered by her flamboyant image, distinctive voice ("a soft-voiced coo punctuated with squeals"), voluptuous figure and limited acting range.[63] Tashlin cast Mansfield in the film version of the Broadway show Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, released in ,[64] reprising her role of Rita Marlowe alongside costars Tony Randall and Joan Blondell.
Fox launched its new blonde bombshell with a North American tour and a day, country tour of Europe. She attended the premiere of the film (released as Oh! For a Man in the UK) in London, and met Queen Elizabeth II.[65][66][67]
Mansfield's fourth starring role in a Hollywood film was in Kiss Them for Me (also ), for which she received prominent billing alongside Cary Grant.
However, in the film itself she is little more than comic relief; Grant's character relates to a redhead played by fashion model Suzy Parker. The film, described as "vapid" and "ill-advised", was a critical and box-office flop,[68] and marked one of the last attempts by 20th Century-Fox to publicize Mansfield.[69] The continuing publicity surrounding Mansfield's physical appearance failed to sustain her career.[70] Fox gave her a leading role opposite Kenneth More in The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (), a western comedy filmed on location in Spain.
In the film, Mansfield's three songs were dubbed by singer Connie Francis. Fox released the film in the United States in , and it was Mansfield's last mainstream film success. Columbia Pictures offered her a part opposite James Stewart and Jack Lemmon in the romantic comedy Bell, Book and Candle (), but she turned it down because she was pregnant.[71][72] Fox then attempted to cast Mansfield opposite Paul Newman in Rally 'Round the Flag, Boys! (), his ill-fated first attempt at comedy.[73]
With a decreased demand for big-breasted, blonde bombshells and an increasing negative backlash against her excessive publicity, Mansfield became a box-office has-been by the early s,[40] yet she remained a celebrity, still able to attract large crowds outside the United States by way of lucrative and successful nightclub acts.
Mansfield gained no major star role in film roles after She was unable to fulfill a third of her contract with Fox due to her reported "repeated pregnancies". Fox stopped viewing her as a major Hollywood star and started loaning her and her likeness out to foreign productions in England and Italy, respectively, until the end of her contract in Many of her English/Italian films are regarded as obscure and some considered lost.[74][75]
In , Fox cast her in two independent gangster films shot in the United Kingdom: The Challenge and Too Hot to Handle, both released the following year.
Both films were low-budget, and their American releases were delayed.[76]Too Hot to Handle was not released in the United States until as Playgirl After Dark. The Challenge was released in as It Takes a Thief. In the United States, censors objected to a scene in Too Hot to Handle in which Mansfield, wearing silver netting with sequins painted over her nipples, appears nearly nude.
When Mansfield returned to Hollywood in mid, 20th Century Fox cast her in It Happened in Athens () with Trax Colton, a handsome newcomer Fox was trying to mold into a heartthrob.
She received first billing above the title but appeared in only a supporting role. The Olympic Games-based film was shot in Greece in the fall of but was not released until June It was a box-office failure, and 20th Century Fox dropped Mansfield's contract. In , Mansfield signed on for a minor role but above-the-title billing in The George Raft Story, released the following year.
Starring Ray Danton as Raft, the film showcased Mansfield in a small part as a glamorous film star. Soon after the film's release, she returned to European films, appearing in low-budget foreign films such as Heimweh nach St. Pauli (, Germany), L'Amore Primitivo (, Italy), Panic Button (, Italy) and Einer frisst den anderen (, Germany).[citation needed]
Tommy Noonan persuaded Mansfield to become the first mainstream American actress to appear nude in a starring role, in the film Promises!
Promises! (). Playboy published nude photographs of Mansfield on the set in its June issue, resulting in obscenity charges against Hugh Hefner in a Chicago court.[78]Promises! Promises! was banned in Cleveland, Ohio, but enjoyed box-office success elsewhere. As a result of the film's success, Mansfield landed on the Top 10 list of box-office attractions for that year.[79] Soon after her success in Promises!
Promises!, Mansfield was chosen from many other actresses to replace the recently deceased Marilyn Monroe in Kiss Me, Stupid (), a romantic comedy also starring Dean Martin. She turned down the role because of her pregnancy with daughter Mariska Hargitay, and was replaced by Kim Novak. That same year, Mansfield appeared in a pinup book called Jayne Mansfield for President: the White House or Bust, which was promoted on billboards; David Attie, a commercial and fine art photographer, took the photographs.[80]
In , Mansfield was cast in Single Room Furnished, directed by husband Matt Cimber.
The film required Mansfield to portray three different characters, and was her first starring, dramatic role in several years. It was released briefly in , but did not enjoy a full release until , almost a year after her death.
Jayne mansfield biography youtube Shake Books. University of California. Hollywood Walk of Fame. Sunday Herald.After Single Room Furnished wrapped, Mansfield was cast opposite Mamie Van Doren and Ferlin Husky in The Las Vegas Hillbillys (), a low-budget comedy from Woolner Brothers. It was her first country and western film, and she promoted it through a day tour of major U.S. cities, accompanied by Husky, Don Bowman and other country musicians.
Before filming began, Mansfield said she would not "share any screen time with the drive-in's answer to Marilyn Monroe", meaning Van Doren. Though their characters did share one scene, Mansfield and Van Doren filmed their parts at different times to be edited together later.[81]
Mansfield's wardrobe relied on the shapeless styles of the s to hide her weight gain after the birth of her fifth child.[82] Despite career setbacks, she remained a highly visible celebrity during the early s through her publicity antics and stage performances.
In early , Mansfield filmed her last role, a cameo in A Guide for the Married Man, a comedy starring Walter Matthau, Robert Morse and Inger Stevens. The opening credits listed Mansfield as one of the technical advisers, along with other star names.[83]
Television
See also: Jayne Mansfield television work
Mansfield played her first leading role on television in on NBC's The Bachelor.[84] In her first appearance on British television in , she recited from Shakespeare (including a line from Hamlet)[Notes 2] and played piano and violin.[85][86] Her notable performances in television dramas included episodes of Burke's Law, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Red Skelton Hour (three episodes), Kraft Mystery Theater and Follow the Sun.
Mansfield's performance in her first series Follow the Sun ("The Dumbest Blonde"; Season 1, Episode 21; February 4, ; produced by 20th Century Fox Television) was hailed as the advent of "a new and dramatic Jayne Mansfield".[87] She appeared on a number of game shows including "Talk it up," Down You Go (as a regular panelist), The Match Game (one rare episode has her as a team captain), and What's My Line? (as a special mystery guest).
She performed in a number of variety shows including The Jack Benny Program (on which she played violin), The Steve Allen Show and The Jackie Gleason Show (during the mids, when the show was the second-highest-rated program in the U.S.).[88] In November , in a special episode of NBC's The Perry Como Show ("Holiday in Las Vegas"), one of her nightclub acts was featured, something quite scandalous for the audience according to the broadcaster.[89] She was a member of the headlining guests for three of The Bob Hope Specials.
In , she toured United States Pacific Command areas in Hawaii, Okinawa, Guam, Tokyo and Korea with Bob Hope for the United Service Organizations for 13 days appearing as a comedian;[90] and in , toured Newfoundland,[91] Labrador and Baffin Island in Canada for a Christmas special.[92] Her talk show career includes a large number of appearances which she appreciated for the publicity.[86] One of her more notable appearances on a variety show was on The Ed Sullivan Show (Season 10, Episode 35; May 26, ) right after her success with Rock Hunter, where she played violin with a six-person backup band.[93][94] After the show she exclaimed, "Now I am really national.
Momma and Dallas see the Ed Sullivan show!" According to Nielsen, the episode was watched in 13,, homes, reaching a 34% of the total audience and garnering a viewership of almost 30 million.[95]
By , she earned $20, per episode for television performances ($, in dollars)[6].[96] In , Mansfield turned down the role of Ginger Grant on the up-and-coming television sitcom Gilligan's Island.
Although her acting roles were becoming marginalized, Mansfield rejected the part as it epitomized the stereotype she wished to rid herself of.[97] The part eventually went to Tina Louise. A widespread rumor that Mansfield had a breast-flashing dress mishap at the Academy Awards was found baseless by Academy researchers.[98] Ten days before her death, she read To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time, a poem by Robert Herrick about early death, on The Joey Bishop Show – her last television appearance.[99][Notes 3]
As late as the mids, Mansfield remained one of the biggest television draws.[] In , The Jayne Mansfield Story aired on CBS starring Loni Anderson in the title role and Arnold Schwarzenegger as Mickey Hargitay.
It was nominated for three Emmy Awards. A+E Networks TV series Biography featured her in an episode titled Jayne Mansfield: Blonde Ambition.[][] The TV series won an Emmy Award in the outstanding non-fiction TV series category in [] A&E again featured her life in another TV serial, Dangerous Curves, in [] In , her story and archival footage was a part of the TV documentary Hollywood Sex Symbols.[]
Other ventures
Stage appearances
See also: Jayne Mansfield stage work
Between and she acted in The Slaves of Demon Rum, Ten Nights in a Barroom, Macbeth, and Anything Goes.
Her performance in an October production of Arthur Miller's Death of a Salesman attracted Paramount Pictures to audition her.[] Lumet trained her for the audition.[18] In , she went to New York and appeared in the Broadway production of George Axelrod's comedy Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?, also featuring Orson Bean and Walter Matthau.
It was her first major stage performance, garnering her critical attention which was not always positive.[] She starred as Rita Marlowe (a wild, blonde Hollywood starlet à la Monroe) in the musical spoofing Hollywood in general and Marilyn Monroe in particular. Her wardrobe, namely a bath-towel, caused a sensation.[][][] She received a Theatre World Award (Promising Personality) for her performance in ,[] as well as a Golden Globe Award (New Star of the year, Actress) in [][]Brooks Atkinson of the New York Times described the "commendable abandon" of her scantily clad rendition of Rita Marlowe in the play as "a platinum-pated movie siren with the wavy contours of Marilyn Monroe".
She performed in about shows between and [] At the time, she was considered one of the biggest Broadway-to-Hollywood success stories.
In , she performed in stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes at Carousel Theater, and Bus Stop at Yonkers Playhouse. Both co-starred Mickey Hargitay and were well-reviewed.[][] Mansfield toured small U.S.
towns alternating between the two plays.[] In , she performed in another pair of plays: Rabbit Habit at the Latin Quarter nightclub, and Champagne Complex, directed by Matt Cimber, at the Pabst Theater. Both plays received poor reviews.[][]
Nightclub
In February , the Tropicana Las Vegas launched Mansfield's stripteaserevueThe Tropicana Holiday (produced by Monte Proser, co-starring Mickey Hargitay) under a four-week contract that was extended to eight.[][] The opening night raised $20, for March of Dimes ($, in dollars).[6] She received $25, per week for her performance as Trixie Divoon in the show ($, in dollars),[6] while her contract with 20th Century Fox was paying her $2, per week ($26, in dollars).[][][] She had a million-dollar policy with Lloyd's of London in case Hargitay dropped her as he whirled her around for the show.[][] In , Jayne returned to the Tropicana and made $30, per week, with her show being extended twice.[] In December , the Dunes hotel and casino launched Mansfield's revue The House of Love (produced by Jack Cole, co-starring Hargitay).
She received a salary of $35, a week ($, in dollars) – the highest in her career.[][]
Her wardrobe for the shows at Tropicana and Dunes featured a gold mesh dress with sequins to cover her nipples and pubic region.[][][] That controversial sheer dress was referred to as "Jayne Mansfield and a few sequins".[] In early , she performed in her first club engagement outside Las Vegas, at the Plantation Supper Club in Greensboro, North Carolina, earning $23, in a week ($, in dollars), and then at Iroquois Gardens in Louisville, Kentucky.[] She returned to Las Vegas in , but her show was staged on Fremont Street, away from the Strip where the Tropicana and Dunes were.[] Her last nightclub act French Dressing was at the Latin Quarter in New York in , also repeated at the Tropicana.[] It was a modified version of the Tropicana show, and ran for six weeks with fair success.[]
Her nightclub career became inspirations for films, documentaries, and a musical album.
20th Century Fox Records recorded "The House of Love" for an album entitled Jayne Mansfield Busts Up Las Vegas in She played the roles of burlesque entertainer Midnight Franklin in Too Hot to Handle () and Las Vegas show girl Tawni Downs in The Las Vegas Hillbillys ().[76][82][] In , an independent documentary Spree (alternative title Las Vegas by Night) on the antics of Las Vegas entertainers was released.
The film, narrated as a part of a travelogue of Vic Damone and Juliet Prowse, featured Mansfield, Hargitay, Constance Moore and Clara Ward as guest stars. Mansfield strips and sings "Promise Her Anything" from the film Promises! Promises!.[][][] A court order prohibited using any of the guest stars to promote the film.[][]
Later in her career, Mansfield was busier on stage, performing and making appearances with her nightclub acts, club engagements, and performance tours.
By , she made personal appearances for everything from supermarket promotions to drug store openings, at $10, per appearance ($, in dollars).[6][]
Musical work
See also: Jayne Mansfield discography
Mansfield had classical training in piano and violin.
She sang in film soundtracks, on stage for her theatrical and nightclub performances, and had singles and albums released. After her death, Mansfield became an inspiration for punk-rock musicians.[]
Soundtracks
Mansfield sang in English and German for a number of her films, including The Girl Can't Help It ("Ev'rytime" and "Rock Around the Rock Pile"), Illegal ("Too Marvelous for Words"), The Las Vegas Hillbillys ("That Makes It"), Too Hot to Handle ("Too Hot To Handle", "You Were Made For Me", "Monsoon" and "Midnight"), Homesick for St.
Pauli ("Wo Ist Der Mann" and "Snicksnack Snuckelchen"), The Challenge ("The Challenge of Love"), The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw ("Strolling Down The Lane With Billy" and "If The San Francisco Hills Could Only Talk"), and Promises! Promises! ("I'm in Love", alternative title "Lullaby of Love").
Live performances
In , an orchestra was recorded for the 31st Academy Awards ceremony with Jack Benny on first violin, Mansfield on violin, Dick Powell on trumpet, Robert Mitchum on woodwind, Fred Astaire on drums and Jerry Lewis as conductor; however, the performance was canceled.[] She sang "Too Marvelous for Words" for The Jack Benny Program ("Jack Takes Boat to Hawaii"; Episode 9, Season 14; November 26, ).
Her club performances regularly featured songs like Call Me, A Little Brains, A Little Talent ("This Queen has her aces in all the right places"), Plain Jane, Quando-Quando, Bésame Mucho, and the song made famous by Marilyn Monroe&#;– Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend.[][]
Discography
| Jayne Mansfield discography | |
|---|---|
| Studio albums | 2 |
| Singles | 6 |
In , 20th Century Fox Records released the album Jayne Mansfield Busts Up Las Vegas, a recording of her Las Vegas revue The House of Love.
Jayne mansfield biography youtube full To report about any issues in our articles, please feel free to Contact Us. At the time of their marriage, Jayne was 17 and three months pregnant, while Paul was Lovecraft Edward Bernays H. Sam's wife, Beverly Brody, filed for divorce, naming Mansfield the "41st other woman" in Sam's life.In MGM Records released a novelty album called Jayne Mansfield: Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me, in which Mansfield recited Shakespeare's sonnets and poems by Marlowe, Browning, Wordsworth, and others against a background of Tchaikovsky's music. The album cover depicted a bouffant-coiffed Mansfield with lips pursed and breasts barely covered by a fur stole, posing between busts of Tchaikovsky and Shakespeare.[]The New York Times described the album as a reading of "odd poems in a husky, urban, baby voice".
The reviewer went on to remark that "Miss Mansfield is a lady with apparent charms, but reading poetry is not one of them."[]
In , Jimi Hendrix played bass and added lead in his session musician days for Mansfield on two songs – "As The Clouds Drift By" and "Suey" – released as a rpm single by London Records in [][]Ed Chalpin, the record producer, claimed that Mansfield played all the instruments on the singles.[] According to Hendrix historian Steven Roby (Black Gold: The Lost Archives Of Jimi Hendrix, Billboard Books), this collaboration occurred because they shared the same manager.[][] "Wo ist der Mann" sung in German and released by Polydor Records in Austria was much in demand immediately after its release in August The A-side featured Hans Last's "Snicksnack-Snuckelchen".[] The Original Sound label released two original songs from the soundtrack of The Las Vegas Hillbillys – "That Makes It" (an answer to The Big Bopper's "Chantilly Lace") on the A-side, and "Little Things Mean a Lot" on the B-side – in []
Personal life
Mansfield had a daughter with her first husband, public relations professional Paul Mansfield.
She was the mother of three children from her second marriage to actor/bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, including actress Mariska Hargitay. She also had a son with her third husband, film director Matt Cimber.
Mansfield's son Zoltan made news when a lion named Sammy attacked him and bit his neck while he and his mother were visiting the theme park Jungleland USA in Thousand Oaks, California on November 23, He suffered from severe head trauma, underwent three surgeries at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California, including a six-hour brain surgery, and contracted meningitis.
He recovered, and Mansfield's attorney Sam Brody sued the theme park on the family's behalf for $&#;million ($&#;million in dollars)[6].[65][][] The negative publicity led to closure of the theme park.[]
In , film critic and exploitation movie expert Whitney Williams wrote of Mansfield in Variety: "her personal life out-rivaled any of the roles she played".[] Mansfield was allegedly intimately involved with many men, including Claude Terrail (owner of the Paris restaurant Tour d'Argent),[]Robert F.
Kennedy,[]John F. Kennedy,[] Brazilian billionaire Jorge Guinle,[] Las Vegas entertainer Nelson Sardelli, producer Enrico Bomba, and her attorney Samuel S. Brody. She met John F. Kennedy through his brother-in-law Peter Lawford in Palm Springs, California, in , but their alleged affair did not last.[][][] Mansfield and Brody were both killed in a car crash.[][]
Religion
In August , Mansfield decided to convert to Catholicism.[][] Although she never converted, she did attend Catholic services when she was in Europe,[] and followed Catholic practices when she was involved with a Catholic partner (including Hargitay, Sardelli and Cimber).[][] In May , her performance at the Mount Brandon Hotel in Tralee, Ireland, was canceled because Catholic clergy condemned it.[] She wanted to marry Cimber in a Catholic ceremony, but was unable to find a priest who would perform it.[] While involved with Brody, she also showed interest in Judaism.[]
In San Francisco for the city's Film Festival, Mansfield and Brody visited the Church of Satan to meet Anton LaVey, the church's founder.
He awarded Mansfield a medallion and the title "High Priestess of San Francisco's Church of Satan." The media enthusiastically covered the meeting and the events surrounding it, identifying her as a Satanist, and speculating that she was somehow romantically involved with LaVey.[][][] That meeting remained a much-publicized and oft-quoted event both of her life and of the history of the Church of Satan.[][]Karla LaVey, Anton LaVey's daughter, asserted in a interview with Joan Rivers that Mansfield was a practicing LaVeyan Satanist and that she had a romantic relationship with Anton LaVey.[]
Marriages
First marriage
Jayne met Paul Mansfield at a party on Christmas Eve in ; she was a popular student at Highland Park High School, and he at Sunset High School in Dallas.[] On May 6, , they married in Fort Worth, Texas.
At the time of their marriage, Jayne was 17 and three months pregnant, while Paul was [][][] While most major biographies put the date at May 6, some sources say the marriage was on May 10, [][][] According to biographer Raymond Strait, she had an earlier "secret" marriage on January 28, after which she conceived her first child.[] On November 8, , Mansfield gave birth to her daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield.[40] Some sources cite Paul Mansfield as the father of her child,[][] others allege that the pregnancy was the result of date rape.[][][]
Paul Mansfield hoped the birth of their child would discourage her interest in acting.
When it did not, he agreed to move to Los Angeles in late to help further her career.[] In , she juggled motherhood and classes at the University of Texas. Early in , Paul was called to the United States Army Reserve for the Korean War.[] While he served in the army, she spent a year at Camp Gordon, Georgia.
Mariska hargitay biography Soon afterward, Fox started promoting Mansfield as "Marilyn Monroe king-sized", attempting to coerce Monroe to return to the studio and complete her contract. Arcadia Publishing. Mansfield received her first truly negative publicity after she and Hargitay pleaded poverty when his first wife, Mary Hargitay, who he divorced on September 6, , requested additional child support for their nine-year-old, first child, Tina, in September In , she divorced Mickey.Her life became easier with Paul's army allotment.[] Returning from the Korean War in , he took a job with a small newspaper in East Los Angeles, California, and lived in a small apartment in Van Nuys, Los Angeles, with Jayne and her pets&#;– a Great Dane, three cats named Sabina, Romulus, and Ophelia, two chihuahuas, a poodle dyed pink, and a rabbit.[37][][][] While in California, she left Jayne Marie with her maternal grandparents and spent the summer semester at UCLA.[18][19]
After a series of marital rows around Jayne's ambitions, infidelity, and animals, they decided to dissolve the marriage.[][] It was a long process.
In February , Jayne filed for separate maintenance and in August Paul filed for custody of their daughter, Jayne Marie.[] Jayne filed for divorce in California in ; Paul filed for divorce in in Texas citing mental cruelty, and they received their divorce papers on January 8, [] After the divorce, she decided to keep "Mansfield" as her professional name.[] Paul Mansfield remarried, settled into the public relations business and moved to Chattanooga, Tennessee, but failed to win custody suits over Jayne Marie or restrain her from traveling abroad with her mother.[][]
Following her 18th birthday, Jayne Marie complained that she had not received her inheritance from the Mansfield estate or heard from her father since her mother's death.[][]
Second marriage
Mansfield met her second husband, Mickey Hargitay, at the Latin Quarter nightclub in New York City on May 13, , where he was performing as a member of the chorus line in Mae West's show.[65] Hargitay was an actor and bodybuilder who had won the Mr.
Universe competition in [] Mansfield fell for him immediately, which resulted in a squabble with West.[25][] In the ensuing row, Mr. California, Chuck Krauser, beat Hargitay up and was arrested and released on a $ bond ($3, in dollars[6]).[]
After Mansfield returned from her day European tour, Hargitay proposed to her on November 6, , with a $5, carat diamond ring ($54, in dollars).[6][][] On January 13, (days after her divorce from Paul was finalized), Mansfield married Hargitay at the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California.
The unique glass chapel made public and press viewing of the wedding easy. Mansfield wore a sensational pink, skintight wedding gown made of sequins with a 30&#;yd (27&#;m) flounce of pink tulle (designed by a 20th Century-Fox costume designer),[] and at the reception she had Hargitay drink pink champagne.[][][]
Hargitay made his first film appearance with Mansfield in a bit part in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?.[] The couple became a performing team touring in stage shows, where Mansfield's leopard-spot bikini became a topic of discussion and newspaper coverage.[75][][] As a highlight, Hargitay tossed her around his waist and spun her in wide circles as her shows made more headlines.[][] On screen, he was Mansfield's male lead in her Italian ventures – The Loves of Hercules and L'Amore Primitivo, and a major supporting character in Promises!
Promises!. On stage, he was the male lead in The Tropicana Holiday, The House of Love, French Dressing, and other nightclub acts.
They made personal appearances on television shows such as the Bob Hope Specials.[75] Mansfield and Hargitay had a number of business holdings, including the Hargitay Exercise Equipment Company, Jayne Mansfield Productions, and Eastland Savings and Loan.[] She co-wrote the autobiographical book Jayne Mansfield's Wild, Wild World with Hargitay.
The book also contained 32 pages of black-and-white photographs from the film printed on glossy paper.[]
In , she had a well-publicized affair with Enrico Bomba, the Italian producer and production manager of her film Panic Button.[][][] Hargitay accused Bomba of sabotaging their marriage.[][] In , she had another well-publicized relationship with singer Nelson Sardelli, whom she said she planned to marry when her divorce from Mickey Hargitay was finalized.[] The couple divorced in Juarez, Mexico, in May , where Sardelli accompanied Mansfield in her legal preparations.[79] She had previously filed for divorce on May 4, , but told reporters "I'm sure we will make it up."[] During the acrimonious divorce proceedings, the actress attempted to force a more favorable financial settlement by accusing Hargitay of kidnapping one of her children.[]
Mansfield discovered that she was pregnant after her divorce.
Being an unwed mother would have endangered her career, so she and Hargitay announced that they were still married. Mariska Hargitay was born January 23, , after the actual divorce but before California ruled it valid.[] Mansfield sued to get the Juarez divorce declared legal after Mariska was born, and the divorce was recognized on August 26, [] A court decree in June made Hargitay the guardian of Mickey, Zoltan, and Mariska, though they continued to live with Mansfield.[] He married airline stewardess Ellen Siano in ,[] and she accompanied him to New Orleans when he picked up his three children after Mansfield's death.[] Shortly after her funeral, Hargitay sued his former wife's estate for more than $, ($&#;million in dollars)[6] to support the children, as he and his wife Ellen would raise them,[] but he lost the suit.[] Mansfield had once told Hargitay on a television talk show that she was sorry for all the trouble that she had given him.[]
Third marriage
Mansfield became involved with Matt Cimber (a.k.a.
Matteo Ottaviano, né Thomas Vitale Ottaviano), an Italian-born film director, when he directed her in a stage production of Bus Stop in Yonkers, New York, costarring Hargitay.[][] She married him on September 24, , in Mulegé, Baja California Sur, Mexico. The couple separated on July 11, , and filed for divorce on July 20, [] Cimber managed her career during their marriage, and guided her through a series of increasingly tawdry projects like Promises, Promises and The Las Vegas Hillbillys.
Mansfield's marriage to Cimber began to collapse in the wake of her alcohol abuse, open infidelities, and her disclosure to Cimber that she had been happy only with her former lover, Nelson Sardelli. Work on Mansfield's film, Single Room Furnished directed by Cimber (), was suspended.[] The couple had one son, Antonio Raphael Ottaviano (a.k.a.
Tony Cimber, born October 18, ). Cimber and his second wife, dress designer Christy Hilliard Hanak, who he married on December 2, , raised Tony, Mansfield's youngest child.[][] Cimber later worked as an announcer for Marriedwith Children and a producer for Gorgeous Ladies of Wrestling.
At the time, Mansfield had degenerated into alcoholism, drunken brawls, and performing at cheap burlesque shows.[][] In July , she started living with her attorney, Sam Brody, who had frequent drunken brawls with her and mistreated her eldest daughter, Jayne Marie. Sam's wife, Beverly Brody, filed for divorce, naming Mansfield the "41st other woman" in Sam's life.[][]
Two weeks before her mother's death in , year-old Jayne Marie accused Sam Brody of beating her.[63] The girl's statement to officers of the Los Angeles Police Department the following morning implicated her mother in encouraging the abuse, and days later a juvenile court judge awarded temporary custody of Jayne Marie to Paul's uncle William W.
Pigue and his wife Mary.[][][]
Public image
Influence
See also: Jayne Mansfield in popular culture
Mansfield was a major Hollywood sex symbol of the s and early s and 20th Century Fox's alternative to Marilyn Monroe.
She came to be known as the "Working Man's Monroe".[][] She was one of Hollywood's original blonde bombshells,[] and, although many people have never seen her movies,[] Mansfield remains one of the most recognizable icons of s celebrity culture.[]
According to Hollywood historian and biographer James Parish, Mansfield's hourglass figure (she claimed dimensions of 40–21–35), unique sashaying walk, breathy baby talk, and cleavage-revealing costumes made an enduring impact.
Hollywood historian Andrew Nelson