Jayne Mansfield

Vera Jayne Palmer
1933 - 1967 (road accident)
American born Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania

Nickname Jaynie . Height 5' 5½" (1.66 m) . American actress and sexual icon of the 1950s and 1960s, Jayne Mansfield was born in Pennsylvania and moved to Dallas, Texas, after the death of her father. She attended the University of Dallas and participated in little-theatre productions. She won minor beauty contests (such as "Miss Magnesium Lamp") and attended the University of Texas in Austin, taking drama classes. In 1954 she arrived in Los Angeles, where she studied acting at UCLA and worked in bit parts in television. She landed a small but sexy role in Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), which led to roles that were more prominent in several ways. A job in the Broadway production of "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" brought her a good deal of attention for her scantily clad appearance, and she repeated the role in the film version. Her high-pitched squeal of delight and the studied ease with which she flaunted her more than obvious pulchritude led to a succession of roles as sex kittens and dumb blonde bimbos. She occasionally appeared in films of some quality, but though she apparently aspired to respectability as an actress, her public persona was too extreme to be taken seriously, and she became a sort of poor man's Marilyn Monroe, without the vulnerability and ability that Monroe possessed. By the 1960s Mansfield's career had declined into cheesy sexploitation and hokey and somewhat embarrassing guest appearances. While traveling between nightclub engagements she was killed in a highway accident in 1967, when the car in which she was riding slammed into a semi-tractor trailer truck. Spouse Matt Cimber (24 September 1964 - July 1966) (divorced) 1 child, Mickey Hargitay (13 January 1958 - 26 August 1964) (divorced) 3 children, Paul Mansfield (10 May 1950 - 8 January 1958) (divorced) 1 child.

Single Room Furnished (1968) , A Guide for the Married Man (1967), The Las Vegas Hillbillys (1966) , The Fat Spy (1966) , Dog Eat Dog (1964) , Panic Button (1964) , "Burke's Law" (1964) , Promises! Promises! (1963) , Heimweh nach St. Pauli (1963) , "Pantomime Quiz" (1962) , "The Alfred Hitchcock Hour" (1962) , It Happened in Athens (1962) , "Follow the Sun" (1962) , The George Raft Story (1961) , Monte Carlo (1961), "Kraft Mystery Theater" (1961) , Amori di Ercole, Gli (1960) , Too Hot to Handle (1960) , The Challenge (1960) , The Sheriff of Fractured Jaw (1958), Kiss Them for Me (1957) , Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957) , The Burglar (1957) , The Wayward Bus (1957) , "Shower of Stars" (1957) , The Girl Can't Help It (1956), Sunday Spectacular: The Bachelor (1956), Illegal (1955) , Pete Kelly's Blues (1955) , Hell on Frisco Bay (1955) , Female Jungle (1954)