Mariska Hargitay Reflects on Her Late Mother Jayne Mansfield: Cherished Quotes

Mariska Hargitay experienced the devastating loss of her mother, actress and 1960s icon Jayne Mansfield, at the tender age of 3 — yet her memory endures through Mariska’s words and deeds.

Mansfield tragically passed away at 34 in a car accident in June 1967, leaving Hargitay with significant injuries. The Law & Order: SVU star revealed details about the incident like never before in her 2025 documentary, My Mom Jayne, which explores Mansfield’s public and private life through previously unseen photographs and personal home videos, alongside interviews with her five children.

The late actress welcomed Jayne Marie in 1950 with Paul Mansfield, followed by Miklós in 1958 and Zoltán in 1960 with Mickey Hargitay, Tony in 1965 with Matt Cimber, and Mariska in 1964. Mariska was primarily raised by Mickey before discovering the identity of her biological father, Nelson Sardelli, who had a brief relationship with Jayne during a break from Mickey.

“I’ve spent my entire life distancing myself from my mother,” Mariska expressed in the trailer for the June 2025 HBO Max documentary. “But I want to understand her now … I want to see her as Jayne. My mom, Jayne.”

Here are some of Mariska’s most touching reflections about her mother:

How She Processed Her Mom’s Death

“I lost my mother when I was 3, and I grew up in a household where people coped with the tragedy in their unique ways,” Mariska shared at the 2024 Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s 18th Annual HOPE Luncheon Seminar. “With so much grief, there wasn’t space to focus on anyone else’s needs. We lacked the tools available today to process and understand trauma.”

Mariska also discussed her experiences with Glamour in November 2021, explaining how the trauma of her mother’s death imparted valuable life lessons.

“I think I learned about crisis very early on, realizing that life is unpredictable, and we just keep pushing forward. Then we transform it,” she said.

What She Remembers About Her Mom

In a June 2025 appearance on “Call Her Daddy,” Mariska admitted she wasn’t certain which memories she had of Jayne.

“I have a few recollections that I can’t tell if they are actual memories or just photographs in my mind, or perhaps things I wished had occurred, or merely fragments,” Mariska clarified. “It’s been a lifelong journey of yearning for her and attempting to rebuild that connection.”

She further expressed, “I say in the film that losing my mother felt like having a hole in my heart. It has been a lifetime of navigating that emptiness and trying to understand it.”

Her Mom’s Artistic Side

“She was a kind, compassionate, funny, empathetic, ambitious woman,” Mariska remarked to Today.com in June 2025, characterizing her mother — who played the violin and piano — as a musician and “an artist with an abundance of dreams and a longing for love.”

“I truly believe she was extraordinary,” Mariska added, noting how Jayne was “ahead of her time.”

The Significance of Her Star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame

“When I received my star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2011, I thought, ‘Oh, that’s nice. Just something people do.’ I didn’t fully appreciate it at the time, I’ll admit. But on the day of the ceremony, when I saw my star right beside hers, I was flooded with emotion,” Mariska told Alex Cooper on “Call Her Daddy.”

“That moment of seeing our two stars together was one of the most deeply connected experiences I’ve ever had with her. It took me by surprise to feel so profoundly linked to her and the stars; it resonated at the most primal level,” she added. “It was part of my cellular DNA.”

Learning of the Similarities Between Herself and Jayne Mansfield

“Throughout the making of this documentary, I discovered many similarities between myself and my mom, and I came to appreciate the traits about her that I admire and respect,” Mariska shared about her documentary journey on “Call Her Daddy.” “In that sense, it has been an incredible gift — truly magnificent.”

She acknowledged that creating the documentary opened her up and revealed aspects of Jayne she hadn’t recognized before.

“It was challenging for me because my mother made choices that were painful for me or that I didn’t understand. I found myself questioning, ‘Why would you do that? Or, couldn’t it have been done differently?’ Perhaps I just didn’t grasp the context of the ’50s at that time. The process of creating this film has reshaped my understanding,” she explained.

Getting to Know the Real Jayne Mansfield

“I learned she was different beyond the surface, and that’s who I wanted to connect with. And, indeed, I did,” Mariska shared with Extra in 2025 regarding the making of My Mom Jayne. “As mentioned in the film, I grew up feeling a void in my heart. For any child who loses a parent, especially a mother at such a young age, it’s incredibly difficult to make sense of it. However, as a mother of three now, my understanding has deepened incredibly.”

Mariska has three children with her husband, actor Peter Hermann: sons August, 18, Andrew, 13, and daughter Amaya, 14.

Hearing Her Mom’s Actual Voice

Mariska described her relationship with her mother as “very complicated” in the aftermath of her death since she was so young and didn’t grasp who Jayne truly was as she matured.

“I think I was, you know, frustrated that I didn’t understand the person behind the icon. I wanted my mom to be June Cleaver, just a normal mother who baked cookies and wrote notes in my lunch bag. Instead, I had a mom who strolled around in a bikini and heels. What was that? Why did you speak like that? As I grew older, I yearned to understand the other facets of her,” Mariska recounted to Today in June 2025.

“I remember seeing a candid photo of her that revealed a different side. I wanted to know her beyond the pose and sex symbol; I sought to understand what made her heart sing, what brought her joy and pain, and what shaped her. It was a remarkable journey because when I finally heard her true voice, when she spoke softly, I felt it resonate: ‘There you are. There you are.’”