For six decades, Mariska Hargitay’s fans believed she was the daughter of Hollywood icons Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay. However, in May 2025, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit actress revealed a major family secret – sharing that her biological father is actually Nelson Sardelli.
Inside Jayne Mansfield’s Marriage to Mickey Hargitay
Jayne was married to her first husband, Paul Mansfield, from 1950 to 1958. They welcomed a daughter, Jayne Marie Mansfield, in 1974. In 1958, Jayne married Mickey, a Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder who moved to the U.S. in 1947. They acted together onscreen and flaunted their love for all to see during public appearances throughout their relationship.
The pair welcomed kids Miklós “Mickey” Hargitay Jr. and Zoltán Hargitay in 1958 and 1960, respectively. They filed for divorce in 1962 and Jayne began a relationship with Nelson in 1963 amid the demise of her marriage to Mickey. Jayne and Mickey briefly reconciled before their divorce was finalized in 1964. Mariska was born in 1964, and to the world, Mickey was her father. But to Mariska, there was some hesitancy in accepting her lineage.
When she was in her 20s, Mariska saw a photo of Nelson, and realized they shared a resemblance. She approached Mickey about the subject of his paternity and he doubled down on him being her father.
“He was my everything, my idol. He loved me so much, and I knew it,” Mariska told Vanity Fair in May 2025. “I also knew something else — I just didn’t know what I knew.”
Jayne ended up marrying Matt Cimber, a director, in 1964. They welcomed son Antonio “Tony” Cimber in 1965. Their marriage began to unravel, and they filed for divorce in 1966. One year later, the Promises! Promises! actress died in a car crash at age 34 while traveling from Mississippi to New Orleans. Three of her children, including Mariska, were in the backseat of the car at the time of the crash, and all survived with minor injuries.
“I don’t remember the accident. I don’t even remember being told that my mother had died,” Mariska said. “I look at photos, and I don’t really remember anything until I was 5.”
After her mother’s death, Mariska and her two older brothers were raised by Mickey. Mickey died in 2006 at age 80.
Who Is Nelson Sardelli?
Mariska was 30 when she decided to go watch Nelson, a Brazilian-born performer of Italian descent, in Atlantic City. When she introduced herself to Nelson, he said, “’I’ve been waiting 30 years for this moment.’”
But she admitted she approached him with a bit of hostility at first.
“I went full Olivia Benson on him,” she said, referencing her Law & Order character. “I was like, ‘I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything from you. … I have a dad.’ There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey.”
Nelson Sardelli
Nelson earned three acting credits throughout his career, including 1970’s Myra Breckinridge and 1982’s Fake-Out. He is an Army veteran who lives in Las Vegas, where he launched a career as a comedian and entertainer.
“I came to the United States in 1956, to Pontiac, Michigan, because in Brazil I worked for General Motors, but they were laying off people all over Michigan,” he told Norm Clarke’s Vegas Diary in October 2019. “I could tell you how many (German-made) Opels were in Brazil at any given time.”
Over time, Mariska’s relationship with Nelson and his kids grew and she began to understand why her mom told her Mickey was her father as a means for stability in her life.
“I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me,” she reflected. “I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter — that is not a lie.”
The television star worked on the documentary, My Mom Jayne, delving deep into her mother’s life and legacy and unearthing family secrets. “This documentary is kind of a love letter to him, because there’s no one that I was closer to on this planet,” Mariska said about Mickey.
She revealed that she held a private screening of the documentary for Nelson’s daughters in Las Vegas.
“They just wept and wept and wept,” the Emmy winner explained. “These two women that I love so much — I made them secrets! It’s so heartbreaking to me.”
She said that she used to call her sisters “family friends,” but it’s no longer something she has to be secretive about.
“I’m not good with lies. So I also made this movie to unburden all of us,” Mariska said.
