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Mariska Hargitay became a television icon thanks to her longtime role as Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU, a part she’s played since 1999. Her powerful performance earned her a 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress and helped make Benson one of TV’s most enduring characters. Before her breakout, Mariska took on small roles in horror films and guest appearances on series like Falcon Crest and Downtown as she worked her way up in Hollywood.
Mariska’s ties to showbiz go beyond her own success. She’s the daughter of two major stars: 1950s screen siren Jayne Mansfield and bodybuilder-turned-actor Mickey Hargitay. The couple married in 1958 and had three children—Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska—before divorcing in 1964. In a surprising revelation in May 2025, Mariska shared that Mickey was not her biological father. She told Vanity Fair that her mother had a brief relationship with singer and comedian Nelson Sardelli during her separation from Mickey—and that Sardelli is her biological father.
Learn more about Mariska’s parents below.
Mickey Hargitay
Born in Hungary in January 1926, Mickey began performing in an acrobatic act with his four brothers at a young age, eventually taking the act to the largest opera house in Budapest, according to NBC. He eventually made his way to America and settled down in Cleveland, Ohio where his bodybuilding dreams began to take shape. “Mickey trained hard throughout the ’50s, winning several local “body beautiful” competitions,” per the outlet. By 1955, Mickey was ready to take the title of Mr. Universe.
The bodybuilder’s championship inspired a generation to take up the sport. “Bodybuilding was dominated by American champions; there was no hope for anyone else,” Arnold Schwarzenegger told the L.A. Times. “That someone from central Europe became Mr. Universe gave hope for someone like myself and others to dream about.”
“Back in those days, bodybuilding was thought of as a freakish, unusual activity that wasn’t popular with the general public,” Gene Mozee, a bodybuilding historian, told the outlet. “At that time, athletic coaches discouraged lifting weights, thinking you’d become muscle bound. And along came Mickey Hargitay, a great all-around athlete.”
Mickey then found work as a muscleman in Mae West’s nightclub act, the Mae West Revue, in 1956. According to the L.A. Times, Jayne caught the act in a New York club and when she was asked what she would like that evening, she reportedly responded: “I’ll have a steak and the man on the left!” Mickey and Jayne would marry two years later.
The couple would go on to work together in films like The Loves of Hercules, Promises! Promises! and Primitive Love. “I enjoyed my career,” Mickey once said, per the outlet. “I never wanted to be any more than what I was, and I had fun doing it.” He died at the age of 80 on September 14, 2006, from multiple myeloma.
“I’ll take inspiration and information from wherever I can get it, whether that’s from my character, from my husband, or from my dad, who always said, ‘Mariska, you can learn from anyone and everyone,’” Mariska told Good Housekeeping in 2012. The actress also has half-sister, Tina, from her dad’s relationship with Mary Birge.
Jayne Mansfield
Jayne was a mid-western girl born in Pennsylvania on April 19, 1933. After finding fame with Playboy photo shoots, Jayne soon became a sex symbol on the big screen as well with films like The Girl Can’t Help It (1956), The Wayward Bus (1957) and Too Hot to Handle (1960).
As for the incredible fame that followed and fans clamoring to know more about her, Jayne appeared grounded about all of it. In a 1960 interview, Jayne explained, “I feel like a star owes it to her public to bring the public into her life because the fans feel like they own you and if you kept your life a complete secret it wouldn’t be fair to them. But my private life, and when I say private life I mean my private life, will always be private.”
Her romance with Mickey appeared to be an on-again/off-again one. In 1963, Jayne attended a five-minute divorce hearing with Mickey in a Mexico court, per the LA Times. The divorce was ruled invalid in California. After a brief reconciliation and a subsequent split, Jayne sued for the Mexican divorce to be recognized, winning in 1964.
In 1967, Jayne was killed in a car crash along with her boyfriend and their driver. Mariska and her brothers were also in the car at the time but survived. Mariska was just 3 years old at the time, and Jayne was 34.
Nelson Sardelli
In May 2025, Mariska confirmed through her HBO documentary My Mom Jayne that Nelson is her biological father, though she still considers Mickey her dad, as he raised her.
Born in Brazil on September 20, 1934, Nelson is an Italian-heritage singer, comedian, and actor who became a beloved Las Vegas performer in the 1960s and ’70s, known for headlining lounges like the Sahara Hotel and Flamingo.
Mariska first sensed the truth about her paternity at age 25 and met Nelson around age 30, but chose to keep the secret out of loyalty to Mickey. In My Mom Jayne, she describes the emotional pain of living with that secret and credits the documentary as part of her healing journey. The film also features Nelson’s other daughters—Mariska’s half-sisters Giovanna and Pietra.
