Jayne Mansfield’s Children After Her Death: Who Raised Them

Few Hollywood tragedies reverberate through generations like the 1967 car crash that killed Jayne Mansfield—especially for the young children who survived in the back seat. On June 29, 1967, three of Mansfield’s five children were in the car when it slammed into a slow-moving tractor-trailer on U.S. Highway 90; all three escaped with minor injuries (People magazine). This article traces what happened to each of her children in the immediate aftermath, who raised them, and how one daughter, Mariska Hargitay, later spent decades uncovering the family story.

Date of accident: June 29, 1967 ·
Jayne Mansfield’s age at death: 34 ·
Number of children: 5 ·
Mariska Hargitay’s age: 3 ·
Driver of vehicle: Ronald B. Harrison (lawyer)

Six details that frame the story:

What Happened to Jayne Mansfield’s Children When She Died?

Children in the car: Mariska, Miklós, and Zoltán

• Mariska Hargitay, age 3, was in the back seat and survived with no injuries (KYUK (Alaska public radio)).
• Miklós Hargitay, age 8, sustained minor injuries (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• Zoltán Hargitay, age 6, also had minor injuries (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• An account from rescuers suggests that 3-year-old Mariska was initially overlooked and found wedged under a passenger seat after her brothers were removed (KYUK (Alaska public radio)).

All three children were taken to a hospital, treated for minor cuts and scrapes, and released. That same day, their father, Mickey Hargitay—Mansfield’s second husband—flew to New Orleans and took custody of them. The surviving children from the back seat would be raised together, but the family structure was permanently altered.

Children at home: Jayne Marie and Antonio

• Jayne Marie Mansfield, 16, was not in the car; she was at the family home in Los Angeles at the time of the crash (People magazine).
• Antonio Hargitay, 6 months old, was also at home with a babysitter (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).

Neither was physically harmed, but the emotional fallout was profound. Jayne Marie eventually went to live with her grandmother, while Antonio remained with his father. The five children never again lived under one roof. The pattern: a shattered family forced to realign across different households.

Who Was Driving When Jayne Mansfield Died?

Ronald B. Harrison: lawyer and boyfriend

• The driver was 25-year-old Ronald B. Harrison, a lawyer from Biloxi, Mississippi, who was Mansfield’s companion at the time (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• Harrison had driven Mansfield and her attorney Samuel Brody from a nightclub show in Biloxi to New Orleans (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).

Driver’s fate: died instantly

• Harrison was killed instantly in the collision (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• Front-seat passenger Samuel Brody also died at the scene (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).

The implication: no surviving adult could explain the final moments. The only witnesses were the young children in the back seat, and their memories were fragmentary.

How Old Was Mariska Hargitay When Jayne Mansfield Died?

Mariska’s birth date: January 23, 1964

• Mariska Hargitay was born on January 23, 1964, to Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).

Age calculation: 3 years, 5 months

• At the time of the crash on June 29, 1967, Mariska was 3 years and 5 months old (KYUK (Alaska public radio)).
• She later stated in a 2019 interview: “I was in the back seat. I don’t remember a thing.” (YouTube (interview video)).

The trade-off: Mariska’s lack of memory was both a blessing and a void. She grew up with a story she often heard but never experienced, which later drove a decades-long search for truth about her family.

Who Raised Mariska Hargitay After Jayne Mansfield’s Death?

Custody battle between Hargitay and Mansfield’s mother

• Immediately after the accident, both Mickey Hargitay and Mansfield’s mother, Vera Palmer, petitioned for custody of the children (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• The court awarded custody to Mickey Hargitay, who was the biological father of Mariska, Miklós, Zoltán, and Antonio (People magazine).

Raised by father Mickey Hargitay and stepmother

• Mariska and her brothers lived with Mickey Hargitay and his third wife, Ellen Hargitay, in California (KYUK (Alaska public radio)).
• Jayne Marie, the oldest child from Mansfield’s first marriage, was raised primarily by her grandmother, Vera Palmer (People magazine).

Mickey Hargitay later said he “did his best to give them a normal life,” but the loss of their mother created a silence around the subject that lasted decades. Mariska recalled that the crash was a “family secret” she was running from (YouTube (interview video)).

The pattern: the children grew up with a guarded story, and Mariska’s later investigations aimed to fill the gaps left by that silence.

What Caused the Accident Jayne Mansfield Died In?

Rear-end collision with a tractor-trailer

• Mansfield’s 1966 Buick Electra struck the rear of a tractor-trailer that had slowed because of an insecticide fog-spraying truck ahead (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• The collision occurred at about 2:25 a.m. on U.S. Highway 90, one mile west of the Rigolets Bridge (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• Reports indicate the car was traveling between 60 and 80 mph when it hit the stationary truck (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).

Role of insecticide fog (speculation)

• Witnesses reported a thick fog from mosquito-spraying equipment on the road, which may have obscured the driver’s view (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• The official police report concluded that the fog did not significantly reduce visibility, but the issue remains debated (People magazine).

Official cause: driver error due to fog/glare

• Police determined that driver Ronald Harrison failed to see the truck in time because of low visibility from fog and glare (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• No alcohol or drugs were found in Harrison’s system (Wikipedia (encyclopedic source)).
• Reports also conflicted about whether the car’s brake lights were functioning—some accounts say they were out, others state the truck lacked proper reflective tape (People magazine).

The catch: the official cause leaves room for doubt. The question of the mosquito fog and the missing brake lights is exactly what Mariska Hargitay’s later investigations tried to clarify—and failed to resolve conclusively.

For Mariska Hargitay, the search for her biological father remains unresolved, but the crash that took her mother has, in her own telling, become a story she no longer runs from. The pattern of silence that followed the accident is slowly being replaced by documentation, interviews, and a willingness to ask hard questions. For the five children of Jayne Mansfield, the consequence is clear: the tragedy shaped each of their lives differently, but the legacy of that early morning on Highway 90 is one they all carry—whether they remember it or not.

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Mariska Hargitay later revealed Nelson Sardelli as biological father Nelson Sardelli as biological father, shedding light on her childhood after Jayne Mansfield’s death.

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