Latest news with #NelsonSardelli
Yahoo
11 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mariska Hargitay reveals biological dad apologized while spending Father's Day together
Key points Mariska Hargitay revealed that she spent Father's Day with her biological father, Nelson Sardelli. The actress, who was raised by her mother's husband, said that Sardelli apologized to her during their time together. Hargitay announced her father's true identity earlier this year, ahead of her documentary My Mom Hargitay is discussing her relationship with her biological father The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star reflected on her complicated family dynamic during a Q&A following a screening of her documentary, My Mom Jayne, which revealed that her biological dad is not Mickey Hargitay but instead Nelson Sardelli, the ex-lover of her mother, Jayne Mansfield. During her appearance at HamptonsFilm's SummerDocs series in East Hampton, N.Y., on Thursday, Hargitay revealed that she spent Father's Day with Sardelli this year. "It was so magical," she said (via PEOPLE). "He apologized and he said, 'Thank you for forgiving me.' And I said, 'Thank you for making the choice that you made.'" She continued, "So it's like everyone was right in the end, but I grew up not knowing that." Hargitay knew her true parenthood with certainty by the time she was 30, but did not discuss the matter publicly out of respect for Mickey Hargitay, who raised her. She eventually decided to share the truth in her documentary, which debuted at the Cannes Film Festival in May. "It's a matter of sitting with it for so long and acquiring some wisdom and loosening my grip on thinking that it had to be this secret," Hargitay told Entertainment Weekly. "I realized that the truth is ultimately what sets us free, and I had kept my goal to be loyal to my father long enough." Hargitay said that making the documentary offered new insights into the nuances and complex emotions of her family history. "It became this living, breathing story, and I wanted to understand each person and the choices that they made because I didn't have the whole picture," she explained. "When I learned the whole story from more of a bird's eye view, I said, 'It's such a beautiful family story.'" The actress also told EW that she was "so scared and so angry" that her father's true identity would become public over a decade ago. "I was so fearful to have to confront it before I was ready to," she said. "Thank God it never went anywhere. It's been a real gift to me to be able to tell it in my time when I was ready."At the Q&A, Hargitay further reflected on her decision to discuss her true parentage in the doc. "So many people carry things that they don't need to," she said. "I think the only way out is through." The process of making the film offered Hargitay new perspectives on her parents. "Once I understood why, there was magic on the other side, and there was love on the other side," she said. "I spent my life feeling unworthy, not wanted, not claimed, not good enough, abandoned. And then I realized, 'Oh, no, sweetie, you were chosen six ways from Sunday.'" My Mom Jayne is now streaming on HBO Max. Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly
Yahoo
27-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mariska Hargitay Says It's A ‘Miracle' That Biological Father's Identity Was Kept A Secret
Mariska Hargitay continues to feel relief at being able to confront a long-held family secret on her own terms. Hargitay, 61, is making her feature directorial debut with 'My Mom Jayne,' a documentary about her late mother, screen legend Jayne Mansfield, that premieres Friday on HBO. In the film, she reveals musician Nelson Sardelli to be her biological father, though she was raised by bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, whom she viewed as her dad. The 'Law & Order: SVU' actor last month shared how she made the discovery, telling Vanity Fair she began coming to terms with 'knowing' she'd been 'living a lie my entire life' around the time she was 30. Speaking to Entertainment Weekly in a new interview this week, she said she feared the news would somehow become public fodder prior to the release of 'My Mom Jayne.' 'I was so fearful to have to confront it before I was ready to,' she told the outlet. 'Thank God it never went anywhere. It's been a real gift to me to be able to tell it in my time when I was ready.' Mansfield, whose popularity rivaled Marilyn Monroe during her lifetime, was married to Mickey Hargitay from 1958 to 1964. She and Sardelli had a brief affair in the early 1960s. In 'My Mom Jayne,' Hargitay says she began suspecting Mickey Hargitay wasn't her father in her 20s. Upon learning with certainty that Sardelli was her father, however, she decided to keep the truth a secret out of loyalty to Mickey Hargitay, who raised her as his own after Mansfield's death in 1967 and referred to her as his daughter until his own death in 2006. The truth about Hargitay's parentage was first publicly revealed in 'Here They Are, Jayne Mansfield,' a 1992 biography written by Mansfield's former press agent, Raymond Strait. Remarkably, the revelation stayed largely under wraps at the time of the book's publication. 'The fact is that the story was out there in a lot of places,' Hargitay told EW. 'And so, the fact that it never came out is nothing short of a miracle, truly.' Describing 'My Mom Jayne' as a 'healing experience' for her and her siblings, Hargitay said she's learned to embrace her unusual family structure. 'Nothing could change my love, respect, admiration and gratitude for [Mickey Hargitay],' she said. 'And as I got to know Nelson, as he explained to me what happened, it just became a much more three-dimensional story. I realized that everyone's doing the best they can. It wasn't so black and white anymore to me.' Liam Payne's Sister Shares Heartbreaking Reaction To Seeing His Final TV Appearance Charlie Sheen's Daughter Says She's Suffered Mystery Illness For Nearly 2 Years Due To Breast Implants Bruce Willis' Daughter Speaks Out After Criticism For Sharing 'Vulnerable' Photos Of Her Dad
Yahoo
26-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mariska Hargitay on the Stunning Moment She Learned About Biological Dad: 'Jolt Went Through My Body'
Mariska Hargitay was 25 years old when she learned the stunning truth about her biological father from a man she had never met. The "Law & Order: SVU" star spoke with Alex Cooper on the June 25 episode of Cooper's "Call Her Daddy" podcast about how she found out her biological father is Italian singer Nelson Sardelli, not Hungarian bodybuilder and actor Mickey Hargitay. Hargitay had journeyed to the home of Sabin Gray, a diehard fan of her late mother, actor and 1950s sex symbol Jayne Mansfield, to see his collection of Mansfield memorabilia. Hargitay, whose HBO documentary, "My Mom Jayne," comes out on June 27, ended the visit with a shocking realization. "It was a little overwhelming for me because there were life-size cutouts, and it was truly like a museum or a shrine to her," Hargitay said. "That was hard for me at that age to sort of understand. ... I'm seeing all this stuff that I had never seen and kind of grew up away from all of that." "He's showing me all these photos. He's showing me whatever it is, dresses that she had that he'd collected, earrings that she wore, things from movies from the movie set, props or whatever, and then he says to me, 'Do you want to see a picture of Nelson?'" she recalled. The question immediately unnerved Hargitay, who was 3 years old when her mother died in a car accident in 1967. "I just looked at him, and this jolt went through my body, and I said, 'Who's Nelson?'" she said. "And then I knew in one second." Hargitay remembered the blood draining out of Gray's face after asking her about Sardelli. "He sort of panicked and turned white, and he said, 'Oh, it's probably not true, it's probably not true,' and that's when I knew," Hargitay said. "And I think that (Gray) couldn't believe that I didn't know. I was 25, how could I not know?" Hargitay was then shown a picture of Sardelli. "On a cellular level, it was just like DNA talking to DNA," she said. "I knew it was true, and I just really thought my life was over." Hargitay was distraught as she departed Gray's home. "I remember leaving and driving to my brother's house, and I thought I was going to crash my car because I was so not present," she said. "I was totally dissociated and out of my body, and I got to my brother's house. I didn't even know how I got there, but I knew that I shouldn't be driving. It was crazy." Hargitay's world was upended. She was very close with Mickey Hargitay, who had raised her after Mansfield was killed in an accident in which Mariska and her two brothers, Zoltan and Mickey Jr., were also in the car. "The one thing I did have, the one thing that I was rooted in, the one thing that was my constant, was no longer mine," she said about realizing Mickey Hargitay was not her biological father. "And my identity was just smashed. It was like it broke in two." She struggled to deal with a "thousand pellets of hard truth." "(I'm) going, 'My brothers aren't my brothers, I'm not Hungarian, I'm not related to all my family that I grew up with in Hungary,'" she said. It started to make sense to her why during her childhood "everyone asked me if I was Italian." Once she drove to the home of one of her brothers, she asked him if he knew about Sardelli being her biological father. "I'm very, very, very, very close with my brother, and he didn't (know), so then that was also confusing," she said. "And then I went up to my dad's house, and I was hysterically crying and in a state." She said Mickey Hargitay was in the process of physically building her a home when she asked him about Sardelli. "So I drive up to the house that he is building me and confront him, and he was like, 'What? What are you talking about? Are you crazy? That's so not true,'" she said. "He kept saying, 'You look like my father, you look exactly like my father, you're a Hargitay to the end,'" she continued. "The irony is that I'm more like my dad than anyone in our whole family. Like, I am mini-Mickey, right? And so it was just a very extraordinarily painful moment. I say that this is the moment that I became an adult, and it's so visceral for me because I was in so much pain, I was so overwhelmed." Despite finding out the stunning truth about her bloodline, she did not press Mickey Hargitay on the issue. "I was so overwhelmed and I was in the 'me, me, me, me, oh, my gosh, my life is over,' and then looking at this man who's been nothing but loving to me and nothing but this amazing father to me, and I saw his pain," she said. "And I said, 'It doesn't matter what I feel. I love him. We're done here.' "And so I said, 'OK, thank you for telling me,' and I pretended that I believed him, and we never spoke of it again," she continued. "And then he used to say, even before he died, 'Remember when you thought that crazy thing?' And I go, 'I know, wasn't that nuts?'" Hargitay told Cooper she'll 'never know' the extent of Mickey's knowledge on the matter. 'I think that he integrated it in, 'This is my new reality,'' she said. 'He made a choice and that was his new truth. And whether it's true or not emotionally, it was his truth.' While she was managing her emotions with Mickey, Hargitay also was reeling at the thought that Sardelli had not acknowledged her as his daughter. "That was where the injury was," she said, "is, why wasn't I claimed? He must have known. He didn't care, he didn't love me, I wasn't worth it, I was nothing to him. He knew, he had to know that I was his daughter, and I wasn't worth it. I wasn't valuable enough, and that's what I lived with, is that I wasn't enough." "So having that feeling of, my mother left me and then again my father abandoned me was so hard to integrate or make sense out of," she added. At 61 years old, Hargitay said she now has the benefit of being able to view the situation with more wisdom. "I'm so grateful for this life to grow into the miracle of my story, and having this comprehensive understanding and getting the full perspective and now seeing that I had such a limited, teeny, teeny, teeny sliver of the truth (at the time)," she said. This article was originally published on
Yahoo
18-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Mariska Hargitay Reveals the Shocking Family Secret She's Kept for Over 30 Years
In a stunning revelation that has sent ripples through Hollywood and beyond, actress Mariska Hargitay has shared a deeply personal family secret she has held for over three decades. The star, 61, chose the prestigious Cannes Film Festival premiere of her directorial debut, My Mom Jayne, on May 17 as the moment to publicly disclose that the man who raised her, Mickey Hargitay, was not her biological father. Her biological father, Hargitay revealed, is Nelson Sardelli, a former Las Vegas entertainer with whom her mother, the iconic Jayne Mansfield, had a relationship. This disclosure reframes a significant part of the narrative of one of Hollywood's most enduring and respected explained that she first learned of her true paternity at the age of 25. The news was a shock, prompting a confrontation with Mickey Hargitay. However, Mickey, the Hungarian-born former Mr. Universe who was married to Mansfield and lovingly raised Mariska and her brothers, insisted he was her father. Out of respect and love, the topic was never broached again between them. The weight of this secret, however, remained. At age 30, Mariska sought out and met Nelson Sardelli. In interviews accompanying the documentary's premiere, she recalled Sardelli's emotional reaction, telling her, "I've been waiting 30 years for this moment." Hargitay admitted her own initial response was guarded, fiercely loyal to Mickey, the man she unequivocally considers her dad. "This documentary is kind of a love letter to him," Hargitay told Vanity Fair, emphasizing that Mickey Hargitay, who passed away in 2006, remains the father figure who shaped her life. "I'm Mickey Hargitay's daughter — that is not a lie." The documentary, My Mom Jayne, is an exploration of her famous mother's life and legacy, who tragically died in a car accident when Mariska was just three years old. The film now also serves as the vessel for Mariska's own truth, featuring interviews with Nelson Sardelli and her newly revealed half-sisters from her biological father's side. For years, Hargitay grappled with questions of identity, wondering if her roots were Hungarian, like Mickey's, or Italian, like Sardelli's. The decision to finally share this long-held secret, she explained, was about unburdening herself and her family. "I'm not good with lies," she confessed, highlighting the emotional toll of keeping such a significant part of her story private. The revelation has been met with an outpouring of support for Hargitay, who has built a career not only on her acclaimed portrayal of Olivia Benson but also on her advocacy for victims of abuse through her Joyful Heart Foundation. My Mom Jayne is slated for the Tribeca Film Festival and is expected to stream on HBO Max.
Daily Mail
08-06-2025
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Mariska Hargitay's biological father is seen for the FIRST time since paternity bombshell revealed
Mariska Hargitay revealed a bombshell family secret she has kept hidden for over 30 years in her new documentary about her iconic late mother Jayne Mansfield. Hargitay's documentary, My Mom Jayne, which marks her feature film directorial debut, premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month. In the film, the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star revealed that her biological father is not Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her. The paternity bombshell revealed that former Las Vegas entertainer Nelson Sardelli is her father and he was spotted for the first time since that was made public. Sardelli, 90, was photographed exiting a beige minivan and walking with a cane up to a white iron fence in front of a house. In an interview with Vanity Fair, Hargitay said she went to see Sardelli perform in Atlantic City, New Jersey when she was 30 years old and introduced herself to him as his daughter. The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star revealed that her biological father is not Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her. The paternity bombshell revealed that former Las Vegas entertainer Nelson Sardelli is her father. Sardelli seen here June 7, 2025 She told the outlet that he was moved to tears when he told her: 'I've been waiting 30 years for this moment.' Hargitay said that she ended up giving him a hard time and went 'full Olivia Benson' on him, referring to her Law & Order: SVU character. 'I was like, "I don't want anything. I don't need anything from you... I have a dad",' she recalled telling him. 'There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey.' After that meeting, she said that she struggled with learning the secret about having more family members, 'knowing I'm living a lie my entire life.' She opened up about the revelation in a Vanity Fair interview just shortly after premiering her documentary about her late mother, who passed away in June 1967 in a tragic car accident, when she was 34 and Mariska was just three years old' She told the outlet that she learned about the secret when she was already an adult. At age 25, she found out that her biological father is Sardelli. She later confronted Mickey, the man who raised her, but he insisted that he was her father. They never discussed it again, but she recalled how she continued to question her lineage, wondering if she was truly Hungarian like her father Mickey — who passed away at the age of 80 in 2006 — and her brothers, Zoltan and Mickey Jr. In an interview with Vanity Fair , Hargitay said she went to see Sardelli perform in Atlantic City, New Jersey when she was 30 years old and introduced herself to him as his daughter. Seen here June 6, 2025 Mariska shared that her biological father is not Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her; Mickey pictured with Jayne, baby Mariska, sons Zoltan, Mikos, and daughter Jayne from Mansfield's previous marriage Jayne was not only an international sex symbol in the 1950s and 1960s, but an award winning actress - winning a Golden Globe Award and a Theatre World Award. She tragically died at age 34 in a car accident in Biloxi, Mississippi on June 29, 1967. Mariska was in the car with her mom during the horrific accident; Mariska was three years old at the time, along with her siblings Miklos, then eight, and Zoltan, then six. The accident took place on US Highway 90 on June 29, 1967 in Biloxi, Mississippi with Jayne, her attorney and partner Sam Brody (who was 40), and the driver (Ronald B. Harrison, 19) in front row with two of her dogs, and her three kids Mariska, Miklos and Zoltan with her other two dogs in the back. They left the Gus Stevens Supper Club after midnight to head to New Orleans for an appearance Jayne was set to make the next day. However at 2:25 am on June 29, 1967, the car crashed into the back of a tractor trailer that had slowed down in front of it - which occurred because of a insecticide fog spraying truck flashing a red light ahead of them. The front row (Jayne, Sam and Ronald) plus two dogs died instantly - with the back row - her three kids and two dogs - only had minor injuries. The kids were sleeping in the back of the car. Mariska told Vanity Fair she went to see Sardelli perform in Atlantic City when she was 30 years old and introduced herself to him as his daughter, and he told her he'd been 'waiting 30 years for this moment'; Jayne pictured kissing Nelson Sardelli, who is now in his late eighties, also appeared in her documentary alongside his other two daughters, Hargitay's half sisters Giovanna and Pietra. Hargitay told the outlet that she eventually opened up to Sardelli and his daughters after understanding and accepting that her mother returned to Mickey because she knew he would provide a stabler home life for her. She said that she gathered her sisters in Las Vegas for a private screening of the documentary before the premiere and recalled their emotional reactions. 'They just wept and wept and wept. These two women that I love so much — I made them secrets! It's so heartbreaking to me.' In the documentary, Hargitay explained why she was unveiling her family secret now and said that because she is now 61 years old, she felt she could finally tell the truth and didn't have to hide it anymore. 'I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me,' she said. 'I'm Mickey Hargitay's daughter — that is not a lie.' 'This documentary is kind of a love letter to him, because there's no one that I was closer to on this planet,' she said. She explained that she wanted to make the documentary to 'unburden all of us.' Jayne had five kids total - daughter Jayne Marie with first husband Paul Mansfield, three children (Miklos, Zoltan and Mariska) with her second husband Mickey Hargitay - and one son Antonio with third husband Matt Cimber. Jayne, who was born on April 19, 1933, first appeared in Playboy magazine as the February 1955 Playmate of the Month, and multiple other issues after. As an actress, she starred in The Girl Can't Help It, The Wayward Bus, Too Hot to Handle and Promises! Promises!, as well as the Broadway play Will Success Rock Hunter? My Mom Jayne, which will air on HBO, will follow Mariska as she 'seeks to know, understand, and embrace her mom for the first time,' per the outlet. Mariska has made a name for herself in Hollywood - best known for her iconic role of Olivia Benson in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. She has played Olivia in the hit series since 1999. She is a Globe Globe winner and a two-time Emmy winner, with her own Hollywood Walk of Fame star, which she received in 2013. Mariska has been married to Younger star Peter Hermann, 57. They share three kids–two sons and a daughter.
