Mariska Hargitay is known for starring as Detective Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU” for 20 years. However, what many do not know about Hargitay is that she is the daughter of legendary sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, who died in a car crash in 1967 at the age of 34.
Hargitay was just 3 years-old when she was in the car crash with her mother, but she managed to survive it along with her two older brothers. Hargitay has largely stayed silent about her mother’s death, but she recently decided to open up about it 50 years after her passing.
“The way I’ve lived with loss is to lean into it. As the saying goes, the only way out is through,” Hargitay said. “In my life, certainly I’ve tried to avoid pain, loss, feeling things. But I’ve learned instead to really lean into it, because sooner or later you have to pay the piper. … 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.”
Hargitay is saddened that the accident robbed her of the chance of getting to know her mother.
“My mother was this amazing, beautiful, glamorous sex symbol—but people didn’t know that she played the violin and had a 160 IQ and had five kids and loved dogs,” said Hargitay as she started to tear up. “She was just so ahead of her time. She was an inspiration, she had this appetite for life, and I think I share that with her.”
The actress went on to talk about the uncanny resemblance she shares with her mother.
“Someone once said about [remembering] my mother: ‘All you have to do is look in the mirror,'” the actress added. “She’s with me still.”
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Mansfield would undoubtedly be very proud if she could see all that Hargitay has accomplished today!
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