(13 January 1958 - 26 August 1964)
divorced
3 children
M1. Mickey Hargitay Jr. (21 December 1958)
M2. Zoltan Hargitay (1 August 1960) F3. Mariska Hargitay (24 January 1964)
Mansfield met her second husband Mickey Hargitay at the Latin Quarter in New York on May 13, 1956, where he was performing as a member of the chorus line in Mae West's show. Hargitay was an actor and bodybuilder who had won the Mr. Universe competition in 1955. Mansfield immediately fell for him, which subsequently resulted in a squabble with West. In the ensuing row Mr. California Chuck Krauser beat up Hargitay. Krauser was arrested and released on a $300 bond ($3,000 in 2013 dollars).
Hargitay proposed to Mansfield with a $5,000 10-carat diamond ring on November 6, 1957 ($204,000 in 2013 dollars), right after she returned from her 40-day European tour. On January 13, 1958, days after her divorce from Paul was finalized, Mansfield married Hargitay at the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The unique glass chapel made public and press viewing of the wedding easy. Mansfield wore a sensational pink skintight wedding gown made of sequins with a 30-yard flounce.
Hargitay's first film appearance with Mansfield was a bit part in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. The couple became a popular publicity and performing team touring widely in stage shows, wherein Jayne's leopard-spot bikini became a topic of discussion and newspaper coverage. Hargitay's tossing her around his waist and spinning her in wide circles as a highlight of her shows made more headlines. On screen, he was Mansfield's male lead in her Italian ventures—The Loves of Hercules and L'Amore Primitivo, and a major supporting character in Promises! Promises!. On stage, he was the male lead in The Tropicana Holiday, The House of Love, French Dressing and other nightclub acts. They were also popular for their personal appearances in television shows such as Bob Hope Christmas Specials. Towards the very end of her life and some time after her divorce with Hargitay, Mansfield told her ex-husband, on a television talk show, she was sorry for all the trouble she gave him.
Mansfield received her first truly negative publicity when she and Hargitay pleaded poverty when Mary Hargitay requested additional child support for Tina Hargitay in September 1958. Mary was Mickey's first wife, divorced on September 6, 1956, and Tina his nine-year-old first child. Mansfield said that she slept on the floor of her mansion, was unable to buy furniture, and spent only $71 on Jayne Marie ($1,000 in 2013 dollars). During this marriage she had three children, Miklós Jeffrey Palmer Hargitay (born December 21, 1958), Zoltán Anthony Hargitay (born August 1, 1960), and Mariska Magdolna Hargitay.
Zoltan was in the news when a lion attacked him and bit his neck while he and his mother were visiting the theme park Jungleland USA in Thousand Oaks, California on November 23, 1966. He suffered from severe head trauma, underwent three surgeries at Community Memorial Hospital in Ventura, California, including a six-hour brain surgery, and contracted meningitis. He recovered. Mansfield's attorney Sam Brody sued the theme park on her behalf for $1,600,000 ($11,016,000 in 2013 dollars). The negative publicity led to closure of the theme park.
Mansfield and Hargitay had a number of business holdings, including the Hargitay Exercise Equipment Company, Jayne Mansfield Productions, and Eastland Savings and Loan. She co-wrote the autobiographical book Jayne Mansfield's Wild, Wild World with Hargitay. The book also contained 32 pages of black-and-white photographs from the film on glossy paper.
In 1962, she had a well-publicized affair with Enrico Bomba, the Italian producer and production manager of her film Panic Button. Hargitay accused Bomba of sabotaging their marriage.
In 1963, she had another well-publicized relationship with singer Nelson Sardelli, whom she said she planned to marry when her divorce from Mickey Hargitay was finalized. The couple divorced in Juarez, Mexico, in May 1963, where Nelson Sardelli accompanied Mansfield in her legal preparations. She had previously filed for divorce on May 4, 1962, but told reporters "I'm sure we will make it up." Their acrimonious divorce had the actress accusing Hargitay of kidnapping one of her children to force a more-favorable financial settlement.
After their divorce, Mansfield discovered she was pregnant. Since being an unwed mother would have killed her career, Mansfield and Hargitay announced they were still married. Mariska was born January 23, 1964, after the actual divorce but before California ruled it valid. Mariska later became an actress, best known for her role as Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. After her birth, Mansfield sued to get the Juarez divorce declared legal and won. The divorce was recognized in the United States on August 26, 1964. Shortly after Mansfield's funeral, Mickey Hargitay sued his former wife's estate for more than 75,000 ($1.89 million in 2013 dollars) to support the children whom he and his third (and last) wife, Ellen Siano, would raise. Hargitay was appointed the guardian of Micky, Zoltan and Mariska by a court decree in July 1967, though they went on living with their mother. He married airline stewardess Ellen Siano in 1968, who accompanied him to New Orleans when he went to pick up his three children with Mansfield after her death. In January 1969, he lost his claim of $275,533 from Mansfield's estate to support the three children ($1,725,000 in 2013 dollars).