Just as Avis never overtook Hertz. Jayne Mansfield never eclipsed Marilyn Monroe, but she sure was a presence in the 1950s. How much do you know about the blonde sexpot?
Her A-list contemporaries dismissed her as a no-talent, publicity-seeking sexpot. Bette Davis famously remarked that her definition of “dramatic art” was knowing how to fill a sweater.
She died early — at age 34 — in a grisly automobile crash that still fascinates the more ghoulish element of Hollywood savants. Her good looks and her career (comprising some 35 movie and tv credits) are still celebrated by recent generations of fans including at least one rock group and a heavy metal ensemble.
She battled the bottle during much of her career, married three times and mothered five children. I didn’t come to Hollywood to be the girl next door, she pronounced. I came to be a movie star. And for much of the mid-Fifties through the Sixties, she was.
Let’s try our Monday Quiz to find out. As usual, questions today, answers tomorrow.
1) Question: What was Jayne Mansfield’s real name? a) Vera Palmer; b) Emma Matzo; c) Virginia McMath; or d) Betty Perske.
2) Question: Which of Mansfield’s husbands was a bodybuilder who adorned Mae West’s muscleman Las Vegas act? a) Matt Cimber; b) Mickey Hargitay; c) Paul Mansfield; or d) Sam Brody.
3) Question: Which one of the following film noir titles is said to have launched Mansfield’s acting career? a) The Killers; b) The Burglar; c) Nightmare Alley; or d) The Night Runner.
4) Question: Mansfield famously showcased her generous cleavage (see photo above) at a Hollywood soiree scandalizing which one of the following attendees? a) Gene Kelly; b) Barbara Stanwyck; c) Fred Astaire; or d) Sophia Loren.
5) Question: Mansfield played the dumb blonde with such fidelity because she really was dumb, that is, not very intelligent offscreen. a) True; or b) False?
6) Question: Mansfield was signed by 20th Century Fox in order to continue a line of famous female studio actresses with broad box office appeal. Which one of the following does NOT fit that description. a) Anne Baxter; b) Betty Grable; c) Alice Faye; or d) Marilyn Monroe.
7) Question: Mansfield was one of the few big studio actresses of her time to pose nude for Playboy magazine. a) True; or b) False?
8) Question: Mansfield’s 1957 movie, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter, was based on a Broadway play by George Axelrod. Who played Mansfield’s role in the original stage version?
9) Question: After substituting for a name female personality at a Biloxi, Mississippi supper club engagement, Mansfield took her last drive (her car careened into the back of a trailer truck some 20 miles outside New Orleans). The question is: who was Mansfield substituting for? a) Diana Dors; b) Mamie Van Doren; c) Marilyn Maxwell; or d) Cleo Moore.
10) Question: Can you name Mansfield’s famous offspring, who has a regular role on the NBC crime drama Law & order: Special Victims Unit?
I always do terrible on your quizzes but know I got 2 right so here goes nothing !
1. C
2. B
3. A
4. D
5. B
6. A
7. A
8. Shelley Winters (haha)
9. A
10. Marissa Hargitay
Thanks, Jai, for doing the heavy lifting on this unusually long and detailed quiz. I go along with many of your answers, although I think her birth name was Vera Palmer, and I think in No. 8 she replaced herself in “Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?” when it went from stage to screen. As for #9, I don’t know which of the four ladies mentioned would have have been a bigger name than Jayne Mansfield in 1967, especially in Biloxi, Mississippi. Although I agree with you Shelley Winters would have been a better answer!
Jayne and her husband Mickey Hargitay (father of Zoltan, Miklos and Mariska) were married at the Wayfarers Chapel (Glass Church) in Southern California in 1958. The minister of our Presbyterian Church performed the ceremony. I won’t say his kind act nearly got him fired, but it was certainly THE topic of conversation around the post-sermon coffee urn for sometime after the event.
When the tragedy in Slidell occurred in June, 1967, my younger brother was at summer camp in the San Bernardino mountains. As the news traveled through the camp that Jayne Mansfield was dead, the U.S. flag was lowered to half staff for the rest of the week. Must have been the camp counselors, but every boy in that camp knew what it meant.
Hey I did better than I thought! Misspelled Mariska so giving myself 1/2 credit for question 10.
Those are great memories Dan, thanks for sharing.
You did do well, Jai. It’s nice that this isn’t school and we don’t ALWAYS have to be right!
Diana Dors? I had no idea JM was subbing for her.
Anyway, good job. Let’s try it again.
By the way, I’m always a bit thrown that the time stamp on this blog is GMT. It’s a little disconcerting.
Looking forward to the next quiz!
Say, did you ever hear that Mr. Hargitay had a cocker spaniel that bit a small child in the face and the child later died? I couldn’t find any info about this online, but my mom used to tell me about it with a stern warning to stay away from strange dogs. Probably an urban legend.