Jayne Mansfield

Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, <a href="/facts/Playboy_Playmate/1qbw4lGd">Playboy Playmate</a>, and <a href="/facts/Sex_symbol/7Sma9Tbu">sex symbol</a> of the 1950s and early 1960s. She was known for her numerous publicity stunts and open personal life. Her film career was short-lived, but she had several box-office successes and won a <a href="/facts/Theatre_World_Award/6qbroYJa">Theatre World Award</a> and <a href="/facts/Golden_Globe_Awards/1v50C2Tb">Golden Globe Award</a>. She gained the nickname of Hollywood's "smartest dumb blonde".
Mansfield gained popularity after playing the role of fictional actress Rita Marlowe in <a href="/facts/Will_Success_Spoil_Rock_Hunter%253F_(play)/lRmCPvXF">Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?</a> on Broadway in 1955–56 and reprising it in <a href="/facts/Will_Success_Spoil_Rock_Hunter%253F/3VA9KaG0">the 1957 film adaptation</a>. Her other film roles include the musical comedy <a href="/facts/The_Girl_Can%2527t_Help_It/XfMq5NGS">The Girl Can't Help It</a> (1956), the drama <a href="/facts/The_Wayward_Bus_(film)/fIbUAEYD">The Wayward Bus</a> (1957), the neo-noir <a href="/facts/Too_Hot_to_Handle_(1960_film)/YdyphFFb">Too Hot to Handle</a> (1960), and the sex comedy <a href="/facts/Promises!_Promises!/j8FPjlaU">Promises! Promises!</a> (1963), the last of which made Mansfield one of the first major American actresses to perform a nude scene in a post-silent era film.
Mansfield's professional name came from her first husband, public relations professional Paul Mansfield. She married three times and divorced twice, as a third initiated divorce was not finalized at the time of her death. Between the marriages she had five children. On June 29, 1967, she died in a traffic collision at age 34.

Jayne Mansfield open-in-new

Jayne Mansfield