Blonde bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield is killed instantly on this day in 1967 when the car in which she is riding strikes the rear of a trailer truck on Interstate-90 east of New Orleans, Louisiana.
Mansfield had been on her way to New Orleans from Biloxi, Mississippi, where she had been performing a standing engagement at a local nightclub; she had a television appearance scheduled the following day. Ronald B. Harrison, a driver for the Gus Stevens Dinner Club, was driving Mansfield and her lawyer and companion, Samuel S. Brody, along with three of Mansfield's children with her ex-husband Mickey Hargitay, in Stevens' 1966 Buick Electra. On a dark stretch of road, just as the truck was approaching a machine emitting a thick white fog used to spray mosquitoes (which may have obscured it from Harrison's view), the Electra hit the trailer-truck from behind. Mansfield, Harrison and Brody were all killed in the accident. Eight-year-old Mickey, six-year-old Zoltan and three-year-old Marie, or Mariska, had apparently been sleeping on the rear seat; they were injured but survived.
Born Vera Jayne Palmer in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, Mansfield arrived in Hollywood as a young wife and mother (to daughter Jayne Marie) in 1954, determined to become an actress. From the beginning, she wasn't afraid to make the most of her assets, particularly her curvaceous figure, flowing platinum blonde hair and dazzling smile. Cast in the Broadway comedy "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?", she turned heads as a voluptuous, dumb blonde movie star; in one famous scene she appeared in nothing but a white towel. She famously appeared nude in the 1963 comedy "Promises! Promises!", and stills from the set appeared in Playboy magazine, but her best performance was generally believed to have been in 1957's "The Wayward Bus," based on the John Steinbeck novel and costarring Joan Collins. While her screen career amounted to about a dozen less-than-memorable films, off screen she played the movie star role to perfection, and became one of the most visible glamour girls of the era.
In 1958, after her first marriage ended in divorce, she married Hargitay, a former Mr. Universe; they divorced in 1963, and Mansfield was married once more, to Matt Climber, in 1964. That marriage also ended in divorce and she was awarded custody of their child, Octabiano. Mariska Hargitay, injured in the accident that killed her mother, later launched her own acting career, most memorably starring in the long-running television drama "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit."
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07:23 AM
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jimbolaya Member
Posts: 10652 From: Virginia Beach, Virginia Registered: Feb 2007
I can't believe you started this thread without a picture. I always thought she was better looking than Monroe. I didn't know Mariska Hargatay was her daughter.
Some pictures to make up for Mozart's defficiency.
Jim
[This message has been edited by jimbolaya (edited 06-29-2011).]
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07:39 AM
Xerces_Blackthorne Member
Posts: 6163 From: Mertztown PA Registered: Mar 2008
Siouxsie And The Banshees had one of their biggest commercial hits with a song about Jayne Mansfield's death.
A lot of imagery in the video as well- the heart shaped pool (Jayne had a heart shaped pool at her Hollywood Mansion.), the pink champagne, (Jayne was obsessed with the color pink), the little dog (apparently Jayne was travelling with four small dogs, one of them killed in the accident. It was a chihuahua, however, not a poodle. I guess poodles look better in music videos.)
Lyrics: It glittered and it gleamed For the arriving beauty queen* A ring and a car Now you’re the prettiest by far No party she’d not attend** No invitation she wouldn’t send Transfixed by the inner sound Of your promise to be found
"nothing or no-one will ever Make me let you down"
Kiss them for me -- I may be delayed Kiss them for me -- if I am delayed
It’s divoon***, oh it’s serene In the fountains pink champagne**** Someone carving their devotion In the heart shaped pool of fame*****
"nothing or no-one will ever Make me let you down"
Kiss them for me -- I may be delayed Kiss them for me -- I may find myself delayed
On the road to new orleans# A spray of stars hit the screen As the 10th impact shimmered The forbidden candles beamed##
Kiss them for me -- I may be delayed Kiss them for me -- I may find myself delayed
Kiss them for me -- kiss them for me
*Before achieving Hollywood stardom, Jayne Mansfield was a perennial beauty queen whose titles included: Queen Cotton; Cherry Blossom Queen; Queen of Palm Springs Desert Rodeo; Nylon Queen; Queen of Refrigeration Week; Gas Station Queen; Queen of the Chihuahua Show; Princess of the Freeways; Miss Magnesium Lamp; Miss Fire Prevention Week; Miss Negligee; Miss Tomato; Miss Direct Mail; Miss Lobster; Miss Photoflash; Miss Third Platoon; Miss Orchid; Miss 100% Pure; Miss One for the Road; Miss Blue Bonnet Belle; Miss Electric Switch; Miss Standard Foods; Miss Fire Alarm; Miss Fourth of July; Miss Nylon Sweater; Miss Geiger Counter; etc.
**By 1967, Jayne had become a bit desperate, attending any premiere or film festival, invited or not.
***"It's divoon" was Jayne's catchphrase.
****Jayne's Pink Palace had a fountain that dispensed pink champagne.
***** The heart shaped pool. See "I love you Jayne" in gold mosaic on the bottom of the pool.
# Died en route to New Orleans.
## Allegedly Anton LeVay of the Church of Satan had placed a curse on Jayne's boyfriend due to his disrespect of LeVay's hokey ceremony where Jayne was made high priestess of the Church of Satan, the "candle" is in reference to the "protection" offered by LeVay. Apparently it didnt work. The "tenth impact" allegedly refers to nine other serious car accidents that she survived, although I am having a hell of a time finding documentation of that.
[This message has been edited by WhiteDevil88 (edited 06-29-2011).]
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01:15 PM
partfiero Member
Posts: 6923 From: Tucson, Arizona Registered: Jan 2002
You are correct. She died on U.S. Highway 90. Not Interstate 90.
Interstate 10 replaced, as the main east/west route along the Gulf Coast and further west as well, US 90. I-10 now runs parrallel to 90 and in some places runs in the same path. In some places, 90 followed El Camino Real, Old Spanish Trail, Old San Antonio Road, and other frontier roads.
I-10 wasn't completed at the time of Mansfield's death.
When I was young, in the 50s and 60s, I used to frequently see "Pray for me--I drive hiway 90" bumper stickers here in SE Texas and sw La. There were always a lot of wrecks on that stretch of highway.
[This message has been edited by maryjane (edited 06-29-2011).]
Seems Netflix has at least 10 of her movies, plus some other stuff that includes her. But I don't see that any of them are on the Instant streaming thing. Wonder how much trouble I'd get in if I start getting the dvd's.
[This message has been edited by Cheever3000 (edited 06-29-2011).]
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10:20 PM
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Boondawg Member
Posts: 38235 From: Displaced Alaskan Registered: Jun 2003
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