Looking back. Mariska Hargitay, 59, took to Instagram on what would have been her mother Jayne Mansfield‘s 90th birthday to remember her with a heartfelt message, which you can SEE HERE. She shared a black and white image of her iconic, blonde bombshell mother at an event, surrounded by admirers. “Happy birthday Mama. We live to love you more each day,” the Law & Order: SVU star captioned the post, alongside a pink heart emoji.
Oscar winner Hilary Swank was among the actress’s 2.7 million followers who reacted to the post, giving it a simple “like.” Many others flooded to the comments thread to react. “YOU are her legacy. You can see her so clearly in you & I know she’d be proud to call you her daughter,” remarked a fan, while another wrote, “Still can’t get over how much you look like ur mama 😍 happy birthday to her.”
Still others claimed to have actual memories of the stunning platinum blonde pinup. “Happy birthday to Jayne the most beautiful woman. I had the privilege of meeting her and your father [bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay] 60 years ago in Cleveland Ohio. I even have a picture of my mom with your parents. My dad said she was the smartest businesswoman he ever met,” penned yet another.
Mariska was famously sleeping in the backseat of a car with her two siblings when her mother was killed in a tragic car accident in June 1967. She was just three years old at the time, and Jayne was 34. Since then, Mariska has gone on to make a notable career in Hollywood for herself. She married Peter Hermann in 2004, and they’ve welcomed three children to their loving family — August, Andrew, and Amaya — all part of Jayne’s family legacy.
In a 2021 interview, the TV actress shared how her mother’s death affected her. “I think I learned about crisis very young, and I learned very young that s*** happens and there’s no guarantees, and we keep going,” she told Glamour in part. “And then we transform it. That’s been kind of my superpower, and the gift of having trauma early in life.”