Mariska Hargitay Breaks Her Silence: “I Was Left Behind at the Crash That Killed My Mom”

When Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay set out to make a documentary about her iconic mother, Jayne Mansfield, she wasn’t just revisiting a Hollywood tragedy—she was finally telling her own story.

Her film, My Mom Jayne, premiered at the Tribeca Festival on June 13 to a standing ovation. But among the many revelations in the deeply personal documentary, one moment left audiences stunned: Mariska, only 3 years old at the time, had been accidentally left behind at the scene of the car crash that killed her mother.

This was not a retelling of tabloid legend. It was a child’s long-silenced truth.

A Night That Changed Everything

The fatal accident occurred on June 29, 1967, in Louisiana. Jayne Mansfield, her lawyer-boyfriend Sam Brody, her driver, and three of her children—Mariska, Zoltan, and Mickey Jr.—were traveling together when their car crashed into the rear of a tractor-trailer, killing all three adults instantly.

The children, miraculously, survived.

But as revealed in the documentary, Mariska was initially left at the wreckage, unseen, beneath the crushed front seat.

“I didn’t know until recently,” Mariska says quietly in the film. “To find out that I had been left behind—it’s haunting.”

“Where’s Mariska?”

The moment of realization came from her brother Zoltan, who recounts the confusion and chaos of waking up in the destroyed vehicle.

“I remember hearing a scream—my mother’s scream—and then everything went black,” Zoltan says in the film. “When I came to, I looked around and said, ‘Where’s Mariska?’”

That simple question is what jolted the rescuers into action.

According to Ellen Hargitay, Mariska’s stepmother, it was Zoltan’s alertness that may have saved his sister’s life.

“Thank God Zolie woke up,” Ellen says. “She was wedged under the front seat, injured, and nobody had seen her.”

Memories in Pieces

Mariska has no memory of the crash itself. “It’s strange how your body remembers what your mind forgets,” she reflects.

But the trauma lingered. Raised by her father, former Mr. Universe Mickey Hargitay, Mariska spent her childhood navigating grief in the shadow of fame and tragedy. Her mother wasn’t just a parent—she was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable bombshells.

In My Mom Jayne, Mariska confronts both the mythology and humanity of her mother: the tabloid covers, the Marilyn Monroe comparisons, and the legacy of a woman who was both adored and objectified.

The Hidden Truth About Her Father

One of the most surprising revelations in the documentary is that Mickey Hargitay was not Mariska’s biological father. Instead, the film reveals that her biological father is Nelson Sardelli, a Brazilian-born entertainer who had a brief relationship with Mansfield.

Sardelli, now in his 90s, made a rare public appearance at the film’s Tribeca premiere, sitting alongside Mariska and her half-sisters Giovanna and Pietra Sardelli, as well as her oldest sister Jayne Marie Mansfield.

“It was emotional,” Mariska told PEOPLE at the premiere. “This is my story to tell. I didn’t always feel that I had the right.”

Owning Her Story

The impetus for the film, Mariska explains, was her need to reclaim her past.

“Someone else told my story before I was ready to tell it,” she said. “That hurt. I felt erased.”

Now, through My Mom Jayne, she has taken that power back—and hopes others will, too.

“It’s so important to tell our own stories,” she says. “It’s healing. It’s freeing. It gives us back parts of ourselves.”

Mariska’s voice cracks when she reflects on the timing. “I truly believe this story has been protected by something divine. It didn’t come out until I was ready.”

A Life Lived in the Spotlight, Shadowed by Loss

Jayne Mansfield, known for roles in The Girl Can’t Help It and Promises! Promises!, was a sex symbol in the 1950s and ’60s. But behind the glamorous facade was a woman striving to be taken seriously as an actress and a mother raising five children.

Mariska’s film does more than reframe Mansfield’s public image—it restores her dignity.

“She wasn’t just a Hollywood blonde,” Mariska says. “She was brilliant, complicated, funny, and she loved her kids deeply.”

Looking Forward, Not Back

With My Mom Jayne, Mariska Hargitay has done something rare: turned personal trauma into public truth, and grief into generational healing.

She continues her work as an actress and activist, but this film marks a new chapter—one where she no longer lives in the aftermath of her mother’s death, but rather in the fullness of her legacy.

As the film’s final moments fade out, Mariska’s voice offers a simple reflection:

“I’ve spent my whole life trying to find her. I think I finally did.”