Jayne Mansfield
I’ve read in many places that, while the role of Ginger Grant on “Gilligan’s Island” was actually created for her, actress Jayne Mansfield turned it down. This, of course, opened up a whole new world for Tina Louise who went on to create a character who is still a household name.
It’s kind of fun to think of Jayne Mansfield in the role, though. Tragically, she was killed in a car accident in 1967, which was coincidentally the last year the show was on the air. She was only 34 years old.
More Jayne Mansfield Trivia:
- Jayne Mansfield was born Vera Jayne Palmer in Pennsylvania in 1933.
- As a child she could play both the piano and violin.
- Her father died when she was only 3.
- Jayne married Paul Mansfield when she was 16 years old. She had her first child (Jayne Marie Mansfield) when she was 16.
- Although it was a small one, she landed her first role in Pete Kelly’s Blues (1955).
- Jayne Mansfield had 5 children.
- One of her daughters is actress Mariska Hargitay (Law & Order).
- Jayne Mansfield made Made Mr. Blackwell’s infamous Worst-Dressed List in 1961 and again in 1964.
- The beauty had an IQ of 163! Her intelligence, many believe, is a reason she never “caught on” in the “dumb blonde” facade Hollywood tried to create for her.
- Rumors have always swirled that she was decapitated in the car crash that killed her. However, her death certificate lists “crushed skull with avulsion of cranium and brain” as the immediate cause of death.
- The car (Buick) that Jayne was killed in was locked away in a garage for decades, in the same condition it was in after the wreck. The owner, who was a big Jayne Mansfield fan, displayed it at various shows over the years. The car was sold at auction in 1999 for $8000. Reportedly, the car still has the blood stains on the seats.
- Jayne Mansfield was an only child.
- Sadly, she had a serious drinking problem most of her adult life – she certainly wasn’t the first or last star to battle this particular demon.
- Was with 20th Century-Fox from 1956-1962.
- She was a natural brunette.
- While traveling from a nightclub in Biloxi, Mississippi (just 30 miles from her destination, New Orleans, where she was appear on television the next day), Jayne Mansfield was killed instantly on Highway 90 in a car crash in the early hours of Thursday June 29, 1967. The car in which she was riding slammed into the back of a semi-tractor trailer truck. The Semi-tractor trailer truck had stopped in the road due to a truck in front of it which was spraying for bugs. The car carrying Jayne Mansfield (as well as her boyfriend Samuel Brody and their driver Ronnie Harrison) went under the truck at nearly 80 miles per hour.
- When photographers and police saw one of her platinum wigs lying on the dashboard, the rumors of decapitation began to echo around the world. Her daughter Jayne Marie Mansfield vehemently insisted that these rumors were not true.
Jayne Mansfield Quotes:
War is a foolish, childish, animalistic, unthinking, unintelligent way of trying to accomplish a purpose.
Stars were made to suffer, and I am a star.
I don’t want to get involved in the racial situation at the expense of losing fans. I wouldn’t say anything too strong but I do know that God created us equal and we’re not living up to it.
I’d like ten more babies and ten more chihuahuas and a few Academy Awards.
I didn’t come to Hollywood to be the girl next door. I came to be a movie star.
My father was the only man I ever knew who really loved me unselfishly, who never used me for personal gain.
I guess a lot of people think that a girl who shows her bosom and wears tight dresses can’t be close to God. God has always been close to me. Only He knew what was in my heart.
You know which title I like best? I like to be called mother.
Nothing risque, nothing gained.
