Mariska Hargitay reveals shocking discovery in new documentary about her mom

Miami Herald

17-06-2025

Mariska Hargitay's new documentary tells her story just as much as it tells her mom's story.
The 61-year-old Emmy-winning actress, best known for her role in NBC's 'Law & Order: Special Victims Unit,' is making her feature film directorial debut with her new doc titled, 'My Mom Jayne.'
The film tells the legacy of Hargitay's mother, Jayne Mansfield, nearly six decades after her death.
On June 13, Hargitay was joined by her husband, Peter Hermann, and their three kids at Carnegie Hall for a special screening of the film at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.
And one scene, in particular, is going viral.
In the documentary, Hargitay is talking to her brother, Zoltan, about the day they (along with their other brother, Mickey) survived a 1967 car crash that killed their mother, her then-boyfriend Sam Brody, and the driver.
The three kids, all under 8 years old, were in the backseat of the car at the time of the crash.
While recalling the accident, Zoltan remembered 'waking up in a car with a blonde-haired woman who had helped rescue the children' after the crash, according to People.
At first, Zoltan thought the woman was his mother before realizing it wasn't.
After being pulled from the wreckage, Zoltan remembers looking around and noticing that his sister, then 3-year-old Mariska, wasn't among them. When he asked where his sister was, the adults in the vehicle realized she was left at the scene, still inside the mangled car.
Hargitay was found lodged under the passenger seat with a head injury, according to People.
A 1967 New York Times article further revealed that Hargitay had 'head cuts and may require plastic surgery.' Zoltan had reportedly suffered a broken arm and cuts, while Mickey had cuts and bruises.
'Thank God Zolie woke up,' Hargitay's stepmom, Ellen, said of Zoltan in the documentary.
According to Zoltan, Mansfield was originally in the backseat with her three kids, but moved to the front seat to continue the argument she was having with Brody, People reported.
'I often think about why she didn't just stay in the backseat with us,' Zoltan wonders, per HuffPost.
'But I remember her comforting me, telling me I was going to be fine. Twenty minutes later, half an hour, I heard her scream so loud, and that was it,' he recalled.
Hargitay's new documentary premiered May 17 at the 2025 Cannes Film Festival in France.
It was there that Hargitay revealed that Mickey Hargitay, the only father she had ever known, wasn't her biological father. Instead, her real father was Brazilian-born Italian singer Nelson Sardelli, 90.
Hargitay said she first learned the news when she was 30 years old.
Upon meeting, Sardelli told Hargitay that he had 'been waiting 30 years for this moment.'
While Hargitay struggled with the realization that she had been 'living a lie' her entire life, the revelation didn't change who she was — or where she came from.
'I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me,' she told Vanity Fair. 'I'm Mickey Hargitay's daughter — that is not a lie.'
At the Tribeca Film Festival, Hargitay opened up about what it means to finally tell her story.
'This is my story to tell,' Mariska told People at the event. 'I had a rough time with the fact that somebody else told it before I did, and that was the impetus of the movie — that I wanted to tell my story.'
She goes on to say that her story felt 'protected' until she was ready to tell it.
'I encourage a lot of women, and men, to tell their stories,' she told People, further describing it as 'empowering' before adding that it 'gives ourselves back parts of ourselves.'
'My Mom Jayne' is scheduled to make its official premiere June 27 on HBO and Max.