In Memory of Jayne MansfieldBorn April 19, 1933 – Passed Away June 29, 1967This memorial website was created in the memory of Jayne Mansfield, born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania on April 19, 1933 and passed away on June 29, 1967 at 34 years of age.
 Jayne Mansfield (April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress
working both on Broadway and in Hollywood. One of the leading blonde sex symbols
of the 1950s, Mansfield was a Playboy
Playmate of the Month, and appeared again in January
1956, February
1956, and February
1958. She was the covergirl for Playboy for their February
1957 and June
1963 issues. She won the Theatre World Award, Golden Globe and Golden Laurel.
Mansfield starred in several popular Hollywood films that emphasized her platinum-blonde
hair, hourglass figure and cleavage-revealing costumes.
While Mansfield's film career was short-lived, she had several box office successes.
As the demand for blonde bombshells declined in the 1960s, Mansfield was relegated
to low-budget melodramas and comedies, but remained a popular celebrity. In
her later career she continued to attract large crowds in foreign countries,
and in lucrative and successful nightclub tours. Mansfield died in an automobile
accident at the age of 34.
Mansfield, of German and English ancestry, was the only child of Herbert William
and Vera (née Jeffrey) Palmer. Her birthname was Vera Jayne Palmer. A natural
brunette, she was born in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, but spent her early childhood
in Phillipsburg, New Jersey. In 1950, Vera Jayne Palmer married Paul Mansfield,
thus becoming Jayne Mansfield, and the couple moved to Austin, Texas. She studied
dramatics at Southern Methodist University and the University of Texas at Austin.
While attending the University of Texas, she won several beauty contests, with
titles that included "Miss Photoflash," "Miss Magnesium Lamp"
and "Miss Fire Prevention Week." The only title she ever turned down
was "Miss Roquefort Cheese," because she believed that it "just
didn't sound right."
On October 22, 1953, she first appeared on stage in a production of Arthur
Miller's Death of a Salesman. Frequent references have been made to Mansfield's
very high IQ, which she advertised as 163. She spoke five languages, and was
a classically trained pianist and violinist. Mansfield admitted her public didn't
care about her brains. "They're more interested in 40-21-35," she
said.
In 1963, Tommy Noonan persuaded Mansfield to become the first mainstream American
actress to appear nude with a starring role in the film Promises! Promises!. Photographs
of a naked Mansfield on the set were published
in Playboy. In one notorious set of images, Mansfield stares at one of her
breasts, as does her male secretary and a hair stylist, then grasps it in one
hand and lifts it high. The sold-out
issue resulted in an obscenity charge for Hugh Hefner. Hugh was arrested in
Chicago by police after his Playboy magazine published a pictorial entitled, 'The
Nudist Jayne Mansfield'. The trial resulted in a hung jury that voted 7-5
for acquittal.
Promises! Promises! was banned in Cleveland, but it enjoyed box office success
elsewhere. As a result of the film's success, Mansfield landed on the Top 10 list
of Box Office Attractions for that year. The autobiographical book, Jayne Mansfield's
Wild, Wild World, she wrote together with Mickey Hargitay, was published right
after Promises! Promises! and contains 32 pages of black-and-white photographs
from the film printed on glossy paper. By 1962 Mansfield still commanded high
prices as a live performer, though she openly yearned to establish a more sophisticated
image. She announced that she wanted to study acting in New York, in apparent
emulation of Marilyn Monroe's stint with the Actors' Studio. But her reliance
on the racy publicity that had set her path to fame would also prove to be her
downfall. Fox did not renew its contract with her in 1962.Full name: Jayne Mansfield
Born: April 19, 1933
Passed away: June 29, 1967
Age: 34 years of age
Location: U.S. Highway 90 near Slidell, Louisiana, USA
Birthplace: Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, USA
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