Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn't Help It

One of the most well-known sex symbols of her time, Jayne Mansfield's (1933−1967) goal was not just to be an actress but to be a star. While she always had her sights set on Hollywood, Mansfield got her start as Rita Marlowe in the Broadway show Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Known for her platinum blonde hair and her bust size rather than her intelligence and talents, Mansfield was often compared to Marilyn Monroe and was a publicity darling−always available for photo ops and attending every event in sight. However, she soon became the butt of jokes in the New York scene: "the newest cocktail is the Jayne Mansfield. While you're drinking it, the bartender takes your picture." The blonde bombshell's reputation followed her as she transitioned from Broadway to Hollywood, appearing in the low-budget drama Female Jungle before landing the starring role in The Girl Can't Help It. Mansfield followed this success with a dramatic role in The Wayward Bus, winning a Golden Globe in 1957 for New Star of the Year, and starred alongside Cary Grant in Kiss Them for Me. But despite her popularity, Mansfield continued to be a joke in the media. With her outrageously low necklines, affinity for pink accessories (including pink Jaguars, a pink mink, a pink house, a pink heart-shaped bathtub, and pink poodles), and a menagerie of pets (including an ocelot, a monkey, a water buffalo, a burro, an elephant, a Great Dane, a Venezuelan terrier, a talking mynah bird, a rabbit, and more than a dozen untrained Chihuahuas who bit television hosts on numerous occasions), Mansfield increasingly became ostracized in the Hollywood scene. Her appearance as the first celebrity in Playboy and then appearing nude in Promises! Promises! cemented her reputation as an outsider. By the late 1950's, Mansfield's film career had plummeted, but she remained very popular with the general public. She capitalized on that popularity through in-person and TV appearances, soundtracks, nightclub appearances, and stage productions. While the step down in status bruised her celebrity ego, Mansfield had to support five children by numerous fathers. Like many Hollywood stories, Mansfield's ends tragically. By 1967 Mansfield had lost all of her hair after decades of dying it and was forced to wear wigs. She was traveling to New Orleans after an appearance at a small club in Biloxi, Mississippi, when the car she was traveling in rear-ended a tractor trailer. Mansfield and two other adults in the front seat were killed instantly. Three of Mansfield's children (including future star Mariska Hargitay) witnessed the near decapitation of their mother firsthand. The wreck was so gruesome and widely publicized that it prompted lawmakers to enact legislation for bumper guards at the rear of trailers; these guards are still referred to as Mansfield bars today. A laugh-out-loud funny and heartbreaking tale of the temptations of Hollywood , Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn't Help It is a spellbinding biography of the legendary sex symbol.