‘Law & Order: SVU’ Star Mariska Hargitay Shares What She Learned From Losing Mom, Jayne Mansfield, As A Child

Mariska Hargitay of “Law & Order: SVU” fame was just three years-old when she lost her mom, Hollywood legend Jayne Mansfield, in a tragic car accident back in 1967. Hargitay had been in the back seat with her two brothers at the time, but luckily, all three of the children survived.

Hargitay is best known for her role as Olivia Benson on “Law & Order: SVU” for 23 seasons and counting. Her mom, Jayne Mansfield, was a sex symbol of the 50’s and 60’s and starred in many films including The Girl Can’t Help It.

Now, Hargitay is reflecting on the lessons she learned from losing her mother so young.

‘There’s No Guarantees’

“I think I learned about crisis very young, and I learned very young that s—t happens and there’s no guarantees, and we keep going,” Hargitay told Glamour magazine as part of its Women of the Year issue.

“And then we transform it,” she continued. “That’s been kind of my superpower, and the gift of having trauma early in life. I’ve spent the last 50 — how old am I? — 57, so 54 years sort of trying to figure out what happened and why, and what am I supposed to do with it?”

Hargitay went on to admit that the trauma left her in a “frozen place.”

“I clearly was in that frozen place for a lot of my childhood — of trying to survive, actually trying to survive,” she said. “My life has been a process of unpeeling the layers and trust and trusting again.”

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Mariska Hargitay’s Advice For Her Younger Self

Hargitay also talked about what advice she would give her younger self.

“People ask you that question, ‘What would you say to your younger self?’” she reflected. “And I think for me, I would have grabbed that little girl’s hand and said, ‘Everything is going to be OK. Trust me. Trust me. Everything’s going to be OK.’ [My life] has been a journey in healing.”

Hargitay previously talked to People Magazine about how she handled the death of her mother. 

“The way I’ve lived with loss is to lean into it,” she said. “As the saying goes, the only way out is through. In my life, certainly, I’ve tried to avoid pain, loss, feeling things. But I’ve learned instead to really lean into it because sooner or later you have to pay the piper.”

“I’m not saying it’s easy, and it’s certainly hasn’t been for me,” Hargitay added. “There’s been a lot of darkness. But on the other side things can be so bright.”

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Mariska Hargitay Gets Emotional Remembering Jayne Mansfield

Hargitay then began to tear up as she talked about her beloved mother.

“My mother was this amazing, beautiful, glamorous sex symbol – but people didn’t know that she played the violin and had a 160 IQ and had five kids and loved dogs,” she shared. “She was just so ahead of her time. She was an inspiration, she had this appetite for life, and I think I share that with her.”

“Someone once said about [remembering] my mother: ‘All you have to do is look in the mirror,’” Hargitay concluded. “She’s with me still.”

Jayne Mansfield may have hit it big in Hollywood but no doubt she’d be most proud about being so loved and remembered as Mariska Hargitay’s mom.

Mansfield would undoubtedly be incredibly proud to see that her daughter has followed in her footsteps and found great success in Hollywood as well!