Today marks the 56th anniversary of the death of Jayne Mansfield, one of the most iconic stars in Hollywood.
Her career was very short, since at the time of her death she was only 34 years old, however, at that time she already had fame and recognition that only increased with the passing of the years.
Mansfield left several traces in history and popular culture, but definitely, the one that achieved the most popularity was the photograph that he starred in with Sophia Loren in 1957. The same one, shows Jayne smiling and looking at the camera while Loren watches out of the corner of her eye. her low-cut dress has gone down in history and has been recreated by dozens of celebrities.
The famous photo was taken in 1957, during a party that Paramount Pictures had thrown exclusively for Loren, who had just landed in Hollywood after her successful career in Europe. However, all the prominence of the Italian was overshadowed by the arrival of Jayne Mansfield, and her provocative outfit.
As Loren once recalled, her dress took her by surprise, and her gesture in the photo of her was totally genuine. "She comes over to my table, and she knew everyone was looking at her," she commented she. “Look at the photo, where are my eyes? I'm looking at her nipples because I'm afraid they're going to jump on my plate. You can see the fear on my face. She was terrified that everything in that dress was going to explode,” she added.
The iconic photo has traveled the world, becoming part of the legacy left behind by Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield. However, the Italian actress does not enjoy being attached to that image and has confessed that whenever she is asked about it or asked to sign it, she refuses to sign it. “I don't want anything to do with it. And also out of respect for Jayne Mansfield, that she is no longer with us ”:
Jayne Mansfield was more than a body
From a very young age, Jayne knew that she wanted to be a Hollywood star, and she dedicated several years of her life to honing her skills. She trained in dancing, and singing, and learned to play various instruments. When she finished high school, she married Paul Mansfield (from whom she took her last name), with whom she had her first daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield. During that time, she studied acting while working and raising her daughter.
In the mid-1950s, she began to do some modeling work, which ended up leading her to become one of Playboy's exclusive models. Due to her prominent figure and her beauty, she quickly became quite the icon and was thus awarded contracts with Warner Brothers and Twentieth-Century Fox.
However, even though Mansfield tried to demonstrate her ability for dramatic roles and to be able to get out of her typecasting as an "s*x bomb", both producers took it upon themselves to exploit her image and make her the great rival of Marilyn Monroe. Because of this, most of the productions she starred in were romantic comedies where she played the attractive and unintelligent blonde and that's how her career took a hit.
Even though she no longer worked as much as before, Jayne always continued to be famous, giving shows in nightclubs and shows in different venues. She made low-budget movies in Europe and in 1963, she made Hollywood history by starring in Promises! Promises!, an erotic romantic comedy that featured the first on-screen actress.
Mansfield had a career with many ups and downs and a personal life that she was always talking about. After divorcing Paul Mansfield in 1958, she married Mickey Hargitay, with whom she had three children, including the popular actress Mariska Hargitay, star of the iconic series Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. Then, in 1964, she married Matt Cimber, with whom she was married for only 1 year. She in turn, she had many extramarital relationships, including the President of the United States, John F. Kennedy.
