INSIDE MARISKA HARGITAY’S TRAGIC REAL LIFE STORY
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Actress Mariska Hargitay has starred on NBC’s Law & Order: Special Victims Unit since 1999. She has created such an iconic TV character in Detective Olivia Benson that Taylor Swift named one of her cats “Olivia Benson.” As of this writing, Hargitay has a happy home life with her husband, actor Peter Hermann, and their three children, but it didn’t come easily. She’s had her share of tragedies, starting when she was just 3 years old. Here’s a look at the real-life dramas she’s faced.
Mariska Hargitay’s mother died in a tragic car wreck
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Mariska (pronounced Marishka) Hargitay’s mother was classic Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield, known for her roles in The Girl Can’t Help It and Playgirl After Dark. Her father was Mickey Hargitay, a bodybuilder, actor, and former Mr. Universe. According to The New York Times, the couple met in 1956 when Mansfield, having noticed Hargitay in Mae West’s nightclub act, told a server, “I’ll have a steak and the man on the left.”
Despite that cheeky beginning, her parents had a rocky marriage and split up shortly after her birth. Tragedy struck in 1967, when Mansfield and two adult passengers died in a car accident. Mariska and her two older brothers Mickey and Zoltan, who were in the backseat sleeping, were injured but miraculously survived.
While Hargitay doesn’t remember the accident, she told Redbook in 2009 that “losing [her] mother at such an early age is the scar of my soul.” She added, “But I feel like it ultimately made me into the person I am today. I understand the journey of life. I had to go through what I did to be here.”
Mariska Hargitay felt the loss for a long time, in many ways
Long after her mother’s tragic death, Hargitay struggled with “anxiety” and “low self-esteem,” according to a 2010 Good Housekeeping interview. The outlet reported, “In her finding-out-who-she-was late teens and early 20s, Hargitay acutely felt the pain of not really having known her world-famous mother.” She would even skip fun events like parties. “I thought, What’s the point? They won’t even notice that I’m not there,” she said. Fortunately, Hargitay came out of this period stronger, with the realization that “you have to show up for your life.”
Perhaps part of the reason it took her so long to come to terms with the loss of her mother was the fact that she didn’t have many maternal keepsakes around. Speaking with Inside the Actor’s Studio in 2014, Harigtay said that “most of [her mother’s] belongings” were stolen during a burglary at the famous actress’ house after her passing. Many years later, collectors approached Hargitay and asked her if she wanted to buy any of the items. She said she did, and now wears her mother’s charm bracelet, which had a charm with her name and a ballerina on it.
Mariska Hargitay’s stepmother nearly died, too
When she was three years old, Hargitay’s father Mickey married Ellen Siano, a flight attendant. The couple stayed together until Mickey’s death in 2006. Siano, who helped raise her after her mother’s tragic passing, was a great stepmother, Hargitay told E! True Hollywood Story. In fact, Hargitay told Good Housekeeping in 2012, “I called her Mom. She really claimed us.”
But the family had a big scare in 1973, when a plane Siano was flying in hit terrible turbulence. “One passenger was killed, and four other people were hospitalized, including flight attendant Ellen,” according E! True Hollywood Story. “She hit the floor and the ceiling something like 56 times,” Hargitay said on the show, adding, “she was horrifically injured.”
Of Ellen’s very long recovery time, Hargitay said, “Those are tough emotions for kids to deal with, especially that specifically, to have that, you know, almost happen twice is — I don’t know if there are words for it, but it was really scary for us.” The program said that in response, “Mariska threw herself into school and became an overachiever.”
Mariska Hargitay rang up lots of debt in her early years
“I had a house and car I didn’t want to lose,” she said, “and I had a lot of credit card debt.” At one point, her boyfriend was paying her expenses, but “when we broke up, he said I owed him 60 grand.” She made good on that though. “I’m a payer-backer. So as soon as I could, I paid him off.”
Today, she is much more careful with her money. “I have learned to hang on to it,” she said. “I have a nest egg, and I don’t buy above my means.”
Mariska Hargitay’s father died of colon cancer
But then Hargitay had an idea. After reading countless fan letters from others who had experienced those same feelings of loneliness and shame following traumatic events in their own lives, including domestic violence and sexual assault, she resolved to create a foundation. “Joyful Heart was my response. That’s what the foundation has been about — giving back possibility.” Along with the foundation’s mission to “transform society’s response to sexual assault, domestic violence, and child abuse, support survivors’ healing, and end this violence forever,” Hargitay’s ultimate goal is to be of service and help others heal. “That’s important to me,” she declared. Bravo, Hargitay!
