Mariska Hargitay has revealed a longtime family secret: the truth about his biological father.
The actress, whose mother was Jayne Mansfield, believed for years that her father was Mickey Hargitay, the Hungarian bodybuilding champion, who became an actor. He married Mansfield in 1956.
When Mariska was only 3 years old, she and her mother were involved in a tragic car accident that killed Mansfield instantly. Mickey raised their three children after the death of Mansfield.
“He was my all, my idol. He loved me so much, and I knew it,” she said Vanity. “I also knew something else – I just didn’t know what I knew.”
In fact, she did not know the truth until she had their twenties. During a brief period in 1963-64, Mansfield asked for Mickey’s divorce and began to go out with Italian artist Nelson Sardelli. However, Mickey and Mansfield were reconciled in months before Mariska’s birth.
Mariska had always believed that something felt different between her and her brothers and sisters (Jayne Marie, Zoltan and Mickey Jr.), and when she had about twenty, she saw a photo of Sardelli who confirmed her feelings. She said that she immediately knew that he was her biological father. When she asked Mickey, he denied it and they never talked about it again.
When she was 30, Mariska went to Atlantic City to see Sardelli perform. After she presented herself, she said, he became emotional and said to her: “I have been waiting for 30 years for that time.”
“I went full Olivia Benson to him,” she said about his reaction. “I said to myself,” I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything about you. … I have a father. There was something about loyalty. (Mickey died in 2006.)
She added that she had trouble “knowing that I live a lie all my life”.
Mariska finally became close to Sardelli and her daughters. She also realized that her mother had returned to Mickey because she thought that being with him would be better for her daughter.
“I grew up where I was supposed to do it, and I know that everyone has made the best choice for me,” she said. “I am the daughter of Mickey Hargitay – She is not a lie.”
THE Law and order: SVU Star also opens with this revelation of his new documentary My mom Jayne, which was presented on Saturday at the Cannes Film Festival and begins on June 27 on HBO / HBO Max.
