Kriti Mehrotra
HBO Max’s ‘My Mom Jayne: A Film by Mariska Hargitay’ is a poignant documentary that delves deep into the life, career, and troubles of actress Jayne Mansfield. It comprises not only archival audio-video footage but also exclusive interviews with those close to the late actress, as well as the daughter who followed in her footsteps. Amongst them is none other than Zoltán Hargitay, Jayne’s 3rd child, who was merely 6 years old when his mother passed away in a car accident at the age of 34. He and his siblings were in the vehicle too, but survived.
Zoltán Hargitay’s Early Years Weren’t Entirely Stable
On August 1, 1960, Zoltán Hargitay was born to actress Jayne Mansfield and Hungarian bodybuilder Miklós “Mickey” Hargitay, as the second of their three kids. He is preceded by his father’s namesake and followed by Mariska Hargitay, yet it has since come to light that the latter is actually their half-sibling – her biological father is singer Nelson Sardelli. Nevertheless, all three of them, alongside their mother’s daughter from her first marriage, Jayne Mansfield, spent their formative years together at Jayne’s massive Sunset Boulevard mansion.
Zoltán still remembers that leading a rather extravagant life was the norm for them, considering they had a massive heart-shaped pool and essentially a zoo in their yard, but their parents also taught them the significance of hard work and love. He doesn’t particularly remember any instances with his mother, but he does remember her essence and how she and their father always worked together to care for him. That’s despite the fact that they divorced in 1964, not long after which his mother tied the knot with director Matt Cimber before divorcing him a year later too.
According to reports, Jayne subsequently got involved with her divorce lawyer, Sam Brody, whom her children believe was not a good man because he allegedly could be physically abusive. In other words, although their mother was ever-present in their life despite her hectic career as an actress, entertainer, and inadvertent sex symbol, stability was something they lacked. It was only after 1967 that they got it, but it came at the cost of losing their mother for good, something that still hangs over all of them like a dark cloud because she was taken from them too soon.
Zoltán Hargitay Was Admitted to the Hospital Twice in Two Years
In November 1966, Zoltán found himself in the hospital after being attacked by a lion while the family was visiting an animal-themed park called Jungleland in Thousand Oaks. As per records, the park had a unique arrangement that allowed visitors to take close-up pictures with their trained animals, but on the fateful day, it ended with an attack on the 6-year-old. This toddler had to undergo a 6-hour-long surgery for his injuries, followed by weeks of rehabilitation, but he fortunately had both his parents and all his siblings by his side through the process.
Little did Zoltán know he would end up in a hospital again less than 8 months later, as he, his elder brother Mikey Jr., his younger sister Mariska, his mother, and 2 others would be in an accident. It was shortly after midnight on June 29, 1967, when Jayne left Mississippi after an engagement with her three kids, 4 dogs, boyfriend Sam, and the chauffeur, just to travel to Louisiana for another. They had no idea that around 2:25 am, they’d collide with the rear-end of a tractor-trailer around Fort Pikes, resulting in the front-end of their vehicle taking the brunt of the impact.
The driver, Sam, and Jayne were all at the front, so they sadly passed away right at the scene, but the three young children managed to escape rather unscathed as they were sleeping in the back seat. However, it’s imperative to note that Zoltán is arguably the sole reason Mariska made it out the way she did because when he suddenly awoke in the ambulance, he noticed his sister wasn’t there. Despite the shock of what had transpired, he knew he had to raise the alarms for his little sister, which he did until the ambulance turned around to go back to the scene instead of a nearby hospital. There, paramedics found 3-year-old Marisks with her head lodged under a front seat, and they then took the siblings together to be treated before they were released into the care of their father as well as their stepmother.
Zoltán Hargitay Currently Works in the Entertainment Industry
Following the events of 1967, Mickey Jr., Zoltán, and Mariska were all raised by their bodybuilder-turned-actor father, Mickey, and his third wife, Ellen Siano, who embraced them like her own. “We were blessed that she really embraced us and loved us so quickly,” Mariska once told Good Housekeeping. “I was very fortunate to have a maternal figure in my life after such a horrific accident.” In fact, it appears as if even though their father also sadly died in 2006 after a long battle with an illness, Ellen is still an active part of their lives because she always thought of them as her kids too.
Coming to Zoltán’s individual current standing, he has followed in his father’s footsteps to an extent because, instead of taking up a traditional job, he is a carpenter in the entertainment industry. We specify his father because after Mickey had immigrated to the US from Hungary, he first built a career as a plumber and carpenter before deciding to pursue a career in front of the cameras. As for Zoltán’s credits, he has actually built sets for numerous films and television series, just a few of which are ‘Shrunken Heads,’ ‘Reflections on a Crime,’ ‘T-Force,’ and most recently, Apple TV+’s ‘The Morning Show.’ We should also mention that although this Los Angeles, California, resident and fitness enthusiast prefers to keep his personal life well away from the limelight, we do know he is a happily married father of 2 sons, with his own namesake currently attending New York University.
Read More: Jayne Mansfield’s Net Worth: How Rich Was the Actress?
