Jayne Mansfield Trivia Quiz

Answer: Vera Jayne Palmer

Though unrelated, both Jayne's parents had the surname Palmer when they met. Her father was an attorney and the family was considered affluent. When Jayne was only three years old, her father died from a heart attack. Her mother remarried, and Jayne went by her stepfather's surname of Peers for a while.

Virginia McMath is better known as Ginger Rogers, Jane Seymour's real name is Joyce Frankenburg and Sarah Jane Mayfield became Jane Wyman.

Answer: True

Jayne was only seventeen when she married Paul Mansfield and was already pregnant with her first child, a daughter named Jayne Marie. Marriage and motherhood did not prevent Jayne from wanting to pursue her acting ambitions and she persuaded Paul to move with her to Hollywood.

The marriage fell apart by 1955 with the divorce finalised in 1958. Jayne decided to keep the Mansfield name as she felt it made a good surname for an aspiring actress.

Answer: The Girl Can't Help It

The film was intended to showcase Mansfield but seems better remembered for the musical talent on display. The plot revolves around Mansfield pretending to be a poor singer to avoid a career in show business as she only wants to get married and be a housewife - well, it was the 1950s, so let's gloss over that. What makes the film more memorable is the cast list of bands and singers portraying themselves. As well as the two mentioned in the question, they include Julie London, The Platters, Fats Domino and Nino Tempo.

Of course, if you can remember Little Richard singing the title song you had a head start answering the question.

Answer: Hungary

Miklós Hargitay was born in Budapest in 1926 and moved to the USA in 1947. He was an accomplished speed skater, but turned his talents to bodybuilding, becoming Mr Universe in 1955. Mickey met Jayne while working in a revue, as a muscleman, which starred Mae West. Jayne was immediately attracted to him, so much so that she insisted he be cast in the film she was due to make - 'Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?' in 1957.

They made four films together and Mickey made a few more films even after he and Jayne divorced in 1964. Jayne and Mickey had three children together - two sons and a daughter.

Answer: Kiss Them For Me

The film was based on a play from 1945 which was also an adaptation from a novel called 'Shore Leave'. Set in World War II, Cary Grant plays one of three Naval pilots who are on leave and meet up with women in San Francisco to take their minds off the fighting. Jayne plays one of the women invited to amuse them. The film was not a success and put a temporary stop to Jayne's movie career.

The other films are also from 1957 but none of them involved either Cary Grant or Jayne Mansfield.

Answer: The Pink Palace

Jayne's obsession with pink was well known. According to reports, even during her first marriage she had a poodle which was dyed pink. The property was located on Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles and was transformed by Jayne and Mickey to suit her taste.

The exterior walls were originally white, but Jayne had them painted pink with crushed rocks to make it sparkle and her bathroom was covered in pink carpeting - on the walls as well as the floor. It also boasted a heart shaped swimming pool. After Jayne's untimely death, other famous residents of the property included Ringo Starr, Cass Elliott and Englebert Humperdinck, who owned it from 1976 until 2002.

When he sold it, the property was demolished but enough photos remain to remind us of Jayne and Mickey.

Answer: Soho

By 1960, Jayne's career was on the wane and 20th Century Fox, the studio to which she was contracted, allowed her to go to England to make this film. Soho is the part of London known for its night clubs and strip clubs, so it was entirely the right setting at the time for the film.

The plot centred around rival clubs and is probably most memorable for being an early appearance by British actress Barbara Windsor, herself a busty blonde. Some sources say that Jayne insisted certain scenes featuring Barbara be cut from the film as she felt Barbara was taking attention from her.

Answer: Bus Stop

Tracking down details of this performance has proved difficult, but her co-star was Mickey Hargitay, and one review I found says she 'stole every scene she was in'. As she was the top billed star, it seems safe to assume that she played the role of Chérie which Monroe had done in the film. Both the play and film are about an unsophisticated cowboy meeting a singer and his rather bullying tactics in trying to get together with her.

The play was directed by Matt Cimber and he and Jayne soon became romantically involved, marrying in September that year. The marriage was short lived, with the couple having separated by July the following year. Cimber was the father of Jayne's fifth, and final, child, a boy named Tony Cimber.

Answer: Car crash

Jayne was killed, having suffered severe head injuries, not far from New Orleans in June 1967 when the car in which she was travelling collided at speed with a truck which had slowed down. The truck was probably obscured by spraying from a vehicle in front of it, contributing to the accident.

The driver of the car died too, along with Jayne's lawyer, Sam Brody, who was reputed to be her lover, who was also in the front of the vehicle. Fortunately an even worse tragedy was avoided as Jayne's three children by Mickey Hargitay were in the car, in the rear, and all survived with relatively minor injuries.

Answer: Mariska

Mariska Hargitay is the daughter Jayne had with Mickey, her second husband, and has appeared in a few films but primarily on television. Shows she has appeared in include 'ER' between 1997 and 1998 but she is best known as Olivia Benson in 'Law and Order: Special Victims Unit'.

Her success, displaying her inherited talent, perhaps proves the comments made that Jayne Mansfield was much more than the sex symbol she was promoted as in the 1950s. Her figure seems to have made it difficult for directors to see past that and appreciate that she could act. The other difficulty she had during her career was that Marilyn Monroe was the star of the time. Jayne found herself described as 'the poor man's Marilyn Monroe'.