It’s been 53 years since the Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield was tragically killed in a car crash, but she is still missed by millions of fans to this day. Now, those close to her are speaking out to say that Mansfield “cared so much” about being a “good” mother.

Mansfield’s biographer Frank Ferruccio described Mansfield as an incredible mother who took her five children everywhere with her.

“She was not a star mom. She was a great mom,” Ferruccio told Closer Weekly. “When she toured, she brought them with her as opposed to leaving them with strangers. She wanted to be a part of their lives.”

Mansfield’s daughter Mariska Hargitay, who today stars on “Law And Order: SVU,” was only 3 years-old when her mother died, but she has never forgotten her.

“She was just so ahead of her time,” Hargitay said. “She was an inspiration, she had this appetite for life.”

“She’s still with me,” she later added. “I look at my life now and think, I’m on a TV show, I run a foundation, I run a household, I’m a mom, I’m a wife, I’m a lot of things. I realize I’m like that because it’s what I know.”

Hargitay’s father Mickey Hargitay divorced Mansfield in 1964, but he always looked back at his time with her fondly

“It was one of the greatest experiences of my life to be married to her. She was a great lady,” he once said. “She was entirely different than what people write about her.”

While Hargitay loved being a mother, she was also very focused on her career, and actively courted publicity to try and get more famous.

“Jayne would pose for a picture for anyone, anywhere, at any time,” said Ferruccio. “She was a very driven woman. It was in her blood.”

Mansfield’s youngest son Tony Cimber also thought his mother was amazing.

“Jayne’s greatest regret would be not growing old with her children,” she said. “But I can also tell you that she never really left. She lets her presence be known. And it’s so Jayne.”

Mansfield would undoubtedly be very proud if she could see how far her children have come today!