Just Like Fire: Jayne Mansfield's Short But Incredible Life

January 19, 2018 11:44

In the heart of Hollywood, on famous Sunset Boulevard, there’s the Pink Palace buried in greenery. It belonged to a dazzling platinum blonde who made hearts of millions of men melt. She lived brightly, openly, beautifully, and died in prime of her life. Her name was Jayne Mansfield.

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Talented musician

Vera Jayne Palmer (this is her real name) was born on April 19, 1933 in the town of Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, in the family of Herbert and Vera Palmer. Unfortunately, in 1936, her father died, and little daddy girl was shocked by the sudden loss.

My earliest memories are the best. I always try to remember the good times when Daddy was alive.

In three years, Jayne's mother remarried, and they moved to Dallas. Actually, in childhood, the actress did not have any desire to become famous. Although she took violin classes and even gave concerts in the driveway of their house, she did not think about pursuing a music career. On the other hand, Jayne was quite smart with her IQ reportedly being more than 160.

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First marriage and first success

In 1949, she met a student Paul Mansfield and married to him at the age of 17. Quite an early marriage, isn’t it? She gave birth to their daughter in 1950. She later divorced him, remarried twice, and welcomed 4 more children. She later said:

Carrying a baby is the most rewarding experience a woman can enjoy.

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After living with her first husband for 2 years, the future actress decided to go the dream place of many – Hollywood. There, Jayne took acting and diction classes. In 1955, she finally got her first little role in Pete Kelly’s Blues. But her physical attributes and beauty could not go unnoticed, so in 1957, she gained her breakout role in The Burglar.

Barbie house

In 1957, Jayne bought a mansion on the Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood. The house had 40 rooms. She could do anything she wanted with it. As a result, the exterior walls were repainted in the favorite color of Jayne – pink. Walls, ceilings, and even soft carpets on the floor were pink as well.

A woman should be pink and cuddly for a man.

Poor man’s Marilyn Monroe

Jayne starred in a handful of movies, but she did not get any plum roles or standout performances like Monroe did. She was intelligent and had a real talent for acting, but directors always insisted to play dumb blonde characters, contributing to famous stereotypes.

Low options

The death of Marilyn Monroe put an end to the era of platinum blondes. That’s is why the 1960s were not as successful for Mansfield as the 1950s. In fact, she made quite a few embarrassing guest appearances, gained roles in low-budget movies, and performed at nightclubs.

via GIPHY

Unhappy ending

On June 29, 1967, at the age of 34, Jayne Mansfield died in a car accident near New Orleans. Due to the mist, her driver did not see the truck trailer and crashed into it at full speed. Luckily, her three children were unharmed.

Jayne dreamed of becoming a famous actress, but her films never went beyond the level of B-movies and did not become masterpieces. But her life was still like fire – short but awesome.