Mariska Hargitay embarks on a family journey to honor her mother, the 1950s movie star and pinup model Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay, 61, was just 3 and survived the infamous 1967 car crash that killed Mansfield, but has no memory of her famous mom.
Yet shining light and love into the misunderstood Mansfield's life is just part of the emotionally powerful revelations in "My Mom Jayne," an HBO documentary directed and produced by the "Law & Order: SVU" star (June 27, 8 ET/PT).
Hargitay unveils a long-held family secret: that her biological father is singer Nelson Sardelli, not Mickey Hargitay, the former Mr. Universe bodybuilder and Mansfield’s second husband, who lovingly raised Mariska. This life-altering discovery profoundly impacted her world three decades ago. Now, Hargitay talks about it for the first time in the documentary and introduces her newly disclosed family.
“I’m not going to lie – it’s been quite a bumpy ride getting here. But it has paid off,” Hargitay tells USA TODAY. “I don’t have the words for what I’ve gone through, but I feel fortified. We all have things we’re scared to approach in our lives. But when you actually go through the door and shed light on it, beauty can come from the scariest place.”
