Jayne Mansfield
Jayne Mansfield | |
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Mansfield in 1957 | |
| Born | Vera Jayne Palmer April 19, 1933 Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, U.S. |
| Died | June 29, 1967 (aged 34) 9th Ward, New Orleans East, Louisiana, U.S. |
| Resting place | Fairview Cemetery, Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania 40°51′42″N 75°14′25″W / 40.861672°N 75.240244°W |
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| Years active | 1954–1967 |
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| Children | 5, including Jayne Marie Mansfield and Mariska Hargitay[1] |
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| Website | jaynemansfield |
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Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, Playboy Playmate, and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. Her film career was short-lived, but she had several box-office successes and won a Theatre World Award and Golden Globe Award. She gained the nickname of Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde."
Mansfield gained popularity after playing the role of fictional actress Rita Marlowe in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? on Broadway in 1955–56 and reprising it in the 1957 film adaptation. Her other film roles include the musical comedy The Girl Can't Help It (1956), the drama The Wayward Bus (1957), the neo-noir Too Hot to Handle (1960), and the sex comedy Promises! Promises! (1963), the last of which made Mansfield one of the first major American actresses to perform a nude scene in a post-silent era film.
Mansfield's professional name came from her first husband, public relations professional Paul Mansfield. She married three times and divorced twice. A third initiated divorce was not finalized at the time of her death. Between the marriages she had five children. On June 29, 1967, she died in a traffic collision at age 34.[2]