Tasteful Friends, let us remember Jayne Mansfield's "Pink Palace"!

The famous heart-shaped tub, with more padded walls.

How did she ever convince a straight man to live in that place?

Hubby was hot, that's all that matters.

Lt. Benson's childhood bedroom!

This was the sodomy room.

What the motherfucking fuck has she got on the walls here? Bones of dead arctic whales, to keep the dead bear company?

Jayne Mansfield was bad taste personified and she did it better than anybody else.

Who needs mirrors, when you've got this many pictures of yourself on the wall?

How the hell did she get a straight man to live in this nightmare of girliness? It must have been like living inside a vagina.

Love the open volumes of JM's press clippings in OP's photo. I guess they liked to leaf through them in their spare time.

That's not just tacky, that's grotesque.

The legendary heart-shaped swimming pool.

The pool is the most tasteful thing about that house.

Did the two little hearts become lit foutains at night?

The legendary heart-shaped bathtub.

Which is, BTW, in another room with padded walls. What the fuck did she and Mickey get up to that they needed to pad the walls as well as the floors?

R3 - wow - her daughter looks a lot like her mom in that pic. Facially - not the hair.

Did Mariska get any of her dad's features?

I like the tub and it’s accessories and maybe one accent wall in the padded red bubbles would be fun.

I actually like the couches.

Another tub shot.

That bathroom is mold heaven. That fabric would hold in all the moisture and germs. It would be like walking into a shower rug that's never cleaned.

At least her bedroom doesn't have carpeted walls.

Didn't she die nearly broke which is why she was driving to out of the way night clubs? I can see someone with this over the top taste blowing through their money.

[Quote] It must have been like living inside a vagina.

I love you R8 I love you DL 😘😘

The exterior is much more tasteful than the inside, but it still must have had her rich neighbors trying to find a good arsonist.

As far as branding goes it was a bullseye, but as a residence, it's giving me hives just looking at all that shag carpeting.

Even the security gate was girly and tasteless. You've got to admire that level of commitment.

Look, the showgirl has a balcony that opens out to the parlor.

How did she afford such a place? A-lister Monroe lived in a sad bungalow.

I'm going out on a limb and saying r8's image is of somewhere else. There's no way this house was on that scale.

Correct, R28. It's the Augustusburg Palace in Brühl, Germany

The real pic.

I wonder if 18th century DL members questioned the taste of whatever Euro-trash royal decorator came up with that staircase. Sometimes less is more.

Well! It seems that Englebert Humperdink bought the place and redecorated... in clashing shades of brown.

It was about presenting a larger than life image of opulence and success to attract more, and better, career opportunities. Establishing yourself as an (A-List) household name Hollywood execs would know to get people in those movie theater seats. Of course, trying to keep such an elaborate fake image up is quite expensive and it's not easy to adjust quick when the bubble bursts and the offers no longer come and the money stops coming, too.

You can see the balcony over Engelbert's right shoulder. All I can say is a big old Oh My.

R27, Marilyn's "sad bungalow" was a 23,200 sq ft hacienda-style house in tony Brentwood, on a half acre lot with swimming pool and citrus grove. She did well financially in the end, but she was never extravangant with her purchases and never flaunted her wealth like her rival, La Liz.

Jayne and Mickey were contract players at 20th Century Fox, so they received decent income for awhile. They also made a lot of paid public appearances and traveled extensively on roadshows to keep up the showbiz artifice. Mickey was also a good businessman and likely invested her money well, until he was shown the door around '64.

To die for!

r35 Marilyn's entire plot of land was 23,000 square feet (.53 acres). Her house was 2,600 square feet.

R37, thanks for the correction. I realized that figure didn't make sense after I had posted it.

Marilyn lived at the end of an extremely secluded, short, narrow, one-way street. Jayne lived in this abortion on Sunset Blvd.

Amazing. No one does vulgar like America.

Obviously that monstrosity wasn't a great investment, not for someone who wasn't at the top of the A-list and whose career was clearly going to fade with her youthful good looks.

But it was her money, and if she wanted to spend it on hideous clashing pink and red décor, well, it was her money.

Why that abode was as tacky and cheap looking as Jayne Mansfield herself!

Marilyn considered herself a serious person and an artist - intellectual.

That's very, shall we say, "rich American".

Is that her "between me down there"?

Jayne was very shrewd woman and tight with a buck. Most of the furnishings she got for free. If she passed by a store and saw a suite of furniture she liked she would walk in and tell the manager she would sit in the window and sign autographs if he'd give her the suite for free. He advertised her appearance, got great publicity and crowds and hopefully a few customers out of the deal and Jayne got free stuff.

R41, For a very brief period in the 1950s, Jayne was a big star. "The Girl Can't Help It" and "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" were among 20th Century Fox's biggest hits at the time. Also, she picked up a Golden Globes award as New Star of the Year for her performance in "The Wayward Bus." So she probably thought money was going to keep rolling in for some time.

Fox would kick her to the curb by 1962, done in by a string of flops and the financial strain of "Cleopatra," but during those three years of success, they really promoted the hell out of her, giving her top billing over more established stars.

r40 have you seen older Italian villa's? No one does vulgar like America, but the Italians birthed the word vulgar.

I disagree R40. Have you seen the decor of some Persians or Eastern Europeans? It's a different tacky but it's just as hideous as this shit.

Jayne Mansfield was a poor man's Marilyn. Whereas Marilyn had a sweet vulnerability to her, Jayne came across as a tough broad and was slightly coarse looking IMO.

I read that Mickey did a lot of the construction and renovation of the house. Didn't he subsequently become a successful contractor?

R46: Shrewd she might have been, but she had terrible taste. Her house embodies her public image: garish. No one with any sense would put carpeting on the floor and walls of a bathroom.

I've read that she supposedly had a high IQ. It's hard to believe, considering her bad career decisions. She once said: “The real stars are not actors or actresses. They’re personalities. The quality of making everyone stop in their tracks is what I work at.” Talent has longevity. Stunt queening does not. Jayne was one of the first to routinely employ the "wardbrobe malfunction" to get attention. Of course, stunt queens are commonplace now with the crap level of celebs we have. If she was really smart, she would've figured out how to have a long Hollywood career instead of a short stint as a Marilyn Monroe imitator. As R50 reminds us, a poor man's version of Marilyn, a label that's been attached to Jayne for a long time.

She spent too much time copying Monroe. She played a caricature of Monroe in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? She wore the same gown MM wore in publicity stills. She did the same tv skit with Jack Benny that MM had done 10 years earlier. She toured with stage productions of Gentlemen Prefer Blondes and Bus Stop, playing the roles MM had performed on the screen.

Lawrence J. Quirk, Hollywood writer and film critic, interviewed Mansfield several times. She had heard the repeated rumours of an affair between JFK and MM. Quirk wrote:

"She pondered later, with considerable chagrin (as she told me off the record in 1959), Marilyn's talent for marrying 'big shots' like Joe DiMaggio and Arthur Miller while she could only attract what she called 'small-fry.' She even said this within earshot of her then husband Mickey Hargitay, and I could tell from his scowl that he didn't appreciate it."

So she set out to get JFK and succeeded. Quirk reported: "'She's so anxious to ape Marilyn, be Marilyn, we'll add to her credentials by giving her a roll in the hay,' Jack laughed."

I agree, R50. Jayne was crude and unsubtle. Marilyn could be just as sexually provocative, but her image was tempered by that sweetness, that little girl quality which was a real part of her personality. Good thing Jayne didn't try to copy that, too, because she wasn't good enough of an actress to fake it.

The house is literally disgusting. And it looks like she put it together with staples and a glue gun.

I wonder if she gave parties there. What did the guests think??

R26 - Jayne is defying gravity there by not falling over the railing onto the piano.

She also said: "Sure a girl has to have talent to make it in Hollywood, but she doesn't have to go around wearing blankets to cover herself."

Has this house been torn down? Even after Humperdink, it would seem like something easier to destroy and replace than refurbish. Plus all that bacteria....

Her house is like her boobies: big, vulgar, and needing to be covered up.

Nasty, disgusting woman, that Loni Anderson.

the inside is tacky but it was about the best address/location in LA. The outside looked completely normal except it was a slightly too gaudy pink, but ony barely. Jayne was actually quite witty and would wear a bikini to the supermarket to get attn. Her publicity mania wrecked her career. She was pretty savvy with money and after the gig in Billoxi she planned on winding down her career and felt she had enuf stashed away to quite working for at least several years.

She did have a fling with Kennedy and he rated her best body of anybody he ever slept with and that is saying something...........she could apparently only have sex when she was bombed according to Kennedy.

Marilyn s house was modest but it was in pretty good taste. The thing everybody forgets about MM personal life tho is she really hated Hollywood and didnt really want to buy a house in LA but her shrink talked her into it. She considered herself a New Yorker and had a nice prewar large apt off of Sutton and 57th in a prime area. She considered her LA house just someplace to sleep when she was making a movie. However after purchasing it she really got into making it exactly the type of place she imagined and spent a lot of time on the remodeling details and furnishings. She was spending money like a drunken sailor the last 6 months of her life and actually it was lucky she had modest tastes as she couldnt afford anything else. She had way too many people on her personal payroll which was one if her big financial burdens.

R55 Yes, it was bulldozed.

Jane used to stand on a balcony on the front side of the house and wave to the tour buses. She had no shame. She turned down the role of Ginger Grant on Gilligan's Island...

Aaargh!

[bold]wardrobe[/bold] malfunction

Did you know this song is about Jayne?

R14 That is not padding . It is pink shag carpeting on the walls!

r60. Cool remix.

Mama Cass Elliot owned Jayne's house after Jayne passed away. The thought of Cass taking a bath in that heart shaped tub is amusing. Imagine the wild parties Cass had there.

Damn, how many women did Jack fuck before death. According to his religion that doesn't bode well in the afterlife.

This is so bad its good.

The US had no lock on bad taste back then. Diana Dors, born Diana Marie Fluck (the rhyming jokes must have been bad), and aka "Britain's Most Visible Export" was a pale imitation of both Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe. She lived longer but also came to a sad end.

"I think this bathroom is perfectly ridiculous!"

Here is Diana Dors. Similar to Jayne, after 1960 she couldn't find a good wig to save her life. She was loved by a husband that stayed with here after her massive weight gain then slow decline from ovarian cancer. He loved her so much that he shot himself in their son's room on the 16th anniversary of the day they met. Their son wasn't there to my knowledge.

The youngest son, Jason Dors Lake, came to a sad end last fall.

All three were seemingly cursed.

Compare Jayne's Pepto Bismol orgy with Marilyn's pre Columbian minimalism.

Well, there's really no comparison, R69. Marilyn knew how to rein it in and Jayne didn't. Marilyn's prized possessions were her books and Jayne prized – I don't know – her wigs?

Jayne must have had genuinely bad taste. Someone who had good taste but who thought that being vulgar and ostentatious was good for their career might have given their house a lurid paint job and made the public spaces deliberately tasteless, but their private rooms would be much more elegant.

Jayne's private spaces seems to have featured a heart-shaped fireplace with what look like fake logs, more fucking pink shag carpet, and three kinds of clashing tile on a few feet of wall - two of them glittery.

R65: You reminded me of a story about Diana Dors' real name that still makes me chuckle: I'm not sure if it's been mentioned on DL already.

[italic]According to Dors' autobiography, she was once asked and readily agreed to open a fête in her home town of Swindon. Prior to the festivities, Dors lunched with the local vicar, during which she informed him that her real name was Diana Fluck. The vicar became somewhat worried about his planned speech. After lunch, they arrived at the fête at the appointed time. The vicar, totally unnerved about mispronouncing "Fluck", introduced Dors with these immortal words:

“Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that I introduce to you our star guest. We all love her, especially as she is our local girl. I therefore feel it right to introduce her by her real name; Ladies and Gentlemen, please welcome the very lovely Miss Diana Clunt."[/italic]

Even though both Marilyn and Jayne were at 20th Century Fox, there are surprisingly no photos of them together that I'm aware of, except for the few from "The Rose Tattoo" afterparty. And those don't even show them interacting.

Harvey Schmidt, composer of The Fantasticks, played piano for Jayne's ballet class at the University of Texas, Austin! I have a glossy still somewhere of Jayne sur les pointes.

Great book about Jayne is Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties by Martha Saxton.

How did Jayne with those huge jugs take ballet?

Jayne's husband Mickey certainly filled out his posing trunks

I second r74's recommendation of "Jayne Mansfield and the America Fifties". (1975) Sexton is a serious scholar and writer of feminist studies and It's a very intelligent, no-exploitative appreciation of Jayne in the context of American culture, published only 8 years after her death.

Jaynes sleazeball last husband Matt Cimber is still alive.

Could someone enlighten me about the sordid 'triangle' between Mae West, Micky Hargitay, and Jayne. I've read that it was love at first sight when Jayne spotted Micky at a nightclub when he was appearing in Mae's revue. Micky fell for Jayne and left Mae and her act, and Mae was so offended by the rejection that she held a news conference over it. I haven't been able to get the deets, but I'd love to know all the sordid fine points.

I’ve always unapologetically loved Jayne for her relentless garishness.It’s like she took the public’s idea of who they thought Marilyn was,or should be-the whole blonde bombshell trip-and exploded it past caricature into bad taste heaven.Nothing spelled that out better than the Pink Palace.

Jayne spent the formative part of her career feverishly chasing Marilyn’s sex symbol crown.And she largely tried by closely imitating what Marilyn had done before,only making it bigger and flashier.That was poor advice from her advisors.The irony is that Marilyn didn’t really want it anymore.I think it was George Axelrod that said:“Marilyn hated being Marilyn.Jayne LOVED being Marilyn.”

Unfortunately Jayne never grasped that there’s more to actual stardom than furs,publicity,big boobs,mansions and body-builder husbands.It would have done her good to care a little more about the craft and holding out for better scripts.And maybe keeping her famous breasts from constantly popping out of her clothes. The word “subtle” was literally not in the woman’s vocabulary.But while she was on top she seemed to be having an absolute ball.Like nobody else in Hollywood history.Only in America!

"And those don't even show them interacting. "

Yeah, R73, it looks like Jayne is stalking Marilyn! Which she probably was.

And another subtle difference between Marilyn and Jayne was that Marilyn was rarely self-consciously sexy, while Jayne was self-consciously, blatantly sexy 24/7! Marilyn was naturally, unselfconsciously sexy, or sometimes, as if her sexiness had been forced on her by circumstance - as if she didn't really want to be sexy but she had to make her way in a man's world. Mansfield never made it really big because she tried too hard, and the effort showed. Monroe seemed natural, Mansfield seemed fake from her hair on down.

Op pic look like Fifty Shades of Grey sexual dungeon

Sheree North was the original blonde bombshell that 20th Century Fox signed (in 1954) to replace an increasingly uncontrollable Marilyn. She was cast in a number of films that Marilyn rejected, and although these pictures were moderately successful, Sheree failed to excite movie audiences the way Marilyn did. Fox signed on Jayne in in 1956, and the following year, her fame eclipsed Marilyn's, whose sole movie that year was the box office flop "The Prince and the Showgirl" compared to Jayne's busy year with "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter," "The Wayward Bus," and "Kiss Them for Me."

[quote] It’s like she took the public’s idea of who they thought Marilyn was,or should be-the whole blonde bombshell trip-and exploded it past caricature into bad taste heaven

Yes. This is accurate description, as opposed to saying she was the poor man's Marilyn. She was more of an exaggerated cartoon Marilyn.

[quote] clashing shades of brown.

Please do tell us more about these “clashing shades of brown.”

[quote] I've read that she supposedly had a high IQ. It's hard to believe, considering her bad career decisions. She once said: “The real stars are not actors or actresses. They’re personalities. The quality of making everyone stop in their tracks is what I work at.” Talent has longevity. Stunt queening does not.

She was obviously a woman who was ahead of her time. She understood celebrity and the future of it. Social media, YouTube and reality tv are all platforms of which she could have really take advantage. She however finagled a 21st century career during the 20th century without those platforms.

Her home is 1960s on steroids. Are we really surprised to see shag carpeting everywhere.

[R82]Cool.Except Rock Hunter was the only box-office hit for her.The Wayward Bus underperformed and Kiss Them For Me was an embarrassment that basically killed her career in A-list movies.Jayne was blamed for one of the few duds in Cary Grant’s long and distinguished career. It’s true that in ‘57 Jayne’s publicity was at a fever pitch.So if you measure movie stardom solely by magazine covers then yes,Jayne “eclipsed” Marilyn that year.But Marilyn was honing her craft ,courting intellectuals,marrying Arthur Miller and gearing up to star in all-time comedy classic Some Like It Hot.Even from the get-go Jayne’s career was all flash,no substance.And the public wasn’t fooled for long. Don’t get me wrong,I like Jayne and think she was seriously underrated as a talent.But she never came close to rivalling Marilyn where it seriously counted.

The inner drag queen in me can’t help but love Jayne Mansfield.She was so ridiculously over-the-top and loving every minute of it.But at the same time,the inherent crassness of her rise to stardom has always stuck in my craw. Her squealing,exaggerated caricature of Monroe was less a tribute and more of a diss.You can just see those cigar-chomping assholes that ran Fox saying:”This one has bigger tits and blonder hair.She’ll do.Put her in Monroe’s costume and make sure she doesn’t bump into the furniture.Cut and print.”Like that’s all it took for stardom.It was complete disrespect for everything Marilyn stood for and had worked so hard to create from scratch.And it was inherently misogynistic.

[quote] She however finagled a 21st century career during the 20th century without those platforms.

Yet it was a short-lived "21st century" career in Hollywood. As much as she desired and pursued it, she never reached A-list celebrity status. She was born too soon and operated during a period when the standards for fame were higher, when famehos and stunt queens weren't taken seriously the way they take Kim K seriously now. She's remembered as a footnote, a garish cartoon and inferior copycat of Marilyn Monroe. From reading her interviews, I doubt that's the legacy she wanted. So no, she didn't understand how to achieve enduring fame as it was defined in her time. And dying young didn't help.

[R88]I agree with everything you said except your last statement.Of course dying young helped.We’re still talking about her ain’t we? On the day she died,she had just finished performing at a supper club in Biloxi,Mississippi.If that’s not the bottom of the barrel for show biz I don’t know what is.That car accident took her life but saved her from complete obscurity.And it’s gruesomeness has given her a morbid afterlife that has stayed with us.She died as notoriously as she lived.Her “legend” may not be in Monroe’s stratosphere but it’s there nevertheless.

"She once said: “The real stars are not actors or actresses. They’re personalities." "

That's actually correct, the biggest stars, the ones with the longest careers as stars, were the ones who had a well-known persona that they carried from role to role. John Wayne was always John Wayne, Cary Grant was always Cary Grant, and Marilyn Monroe was always Marilyn Monroe. They were personalities as well as actors, they had a persona that the public loved and expected to see in every film they made, whether they were playing a baseball player or a Roman Centurion.

So yes, Mansfield understood the nature of stardom better than a lot of you, but that doesn't mean she could create a star persona that the public genuinely loved.

She always had bad taste...was she Italian??

She's the tackiest celebrity to ever be in the public eye. I think history needs to be reminded of this. The Kardashians look genteel compared to her.

This is DL, so we talk about lesser-known to downright obscure celebs here. We aren't mainstream. Dying young didn't help that much. It didn't make her legendary like it did for Marilyn, James Dean, maybe even Rudolph Valentino and Jean Harlow. She's not the object of interest for each new generation. She was a has-been by the 1960s and her early death didn't augment her fame to the point that people still wonder what she could have achieved had she lived longer.

Jayne Mansfield was a joke, she was in on the laughs, but never the less still a joke.

MM had nothing to worry about far as JM was concerned.

Thing is Marilyn Monroe knew how and could turn things off and on at will. She could walk down streets of Manhattan, NYC and no one had a clue which was fine because that is what MM wanted.

Jayne Mansfield was "on" all the time; it was her constant schtick as one came with the other.

JM got much of money to purchase her "pink Palace" from an inheritance. She furnished the place largely by writing to furniture dealers and others requesting free samples. Mickey Hargitay who had been in the trades before films built the heart shaped pool and perhaps did other work.

Mansfield didn't have any charisma. Marilyn had charisma to burn. Diana Dors was actually an actress.

Apparently owner of neighboring estate (Owlwood) purchased the Pink Palace and adjacent properties only to tear them down to enlarge his own estate.

That is definitely some Bobby Trendy realness! I wonder if Anna Nicole would have loved it as well?

Mickey loved Jayne through everything. He moved back into the Pink Palace when she was between husbands to be with her and the kids.

I think it was in the ".....And the Fifties" book that Jayne was furious with him one day. Mickey told her to look at the gates - he had put the J and M in them himself. He said: "That stands for Jayne and Mickey forever...."

Jayne calmly replied: "No - that stands for Jayne Fucking Mansfield!"

"Amazing. No one does vulgar like America."

R40 I assume you have never been to Saudi Arabia or inside a Persian home in LA.

I love every bit of it! I’d add more gold though.

[quote] Yet it was a short-lived "21st century" career in Hollywood. As much as she desired and pursued it, she never reached A-list celebrity status. She was born too soon and operated during a period when the standards for fame were higher, when famehos and stunt queens weren't taken seriously the way they take Kim K seriously now. She's remembered as a footnote, a garish cartoon and inferior copycat of Marilyn Monroe. From reading her interviews, I doubt that's the legacy she wanted. So no, she didn't understand how to achieve enduring fame as it was defined in her time. And dying young didn't help.

Who said that she knew “how to achieve enduring fame as it was defined in her time?” I specifically stated that she was ahead of her time. And we all know that she wanted to be a an A list movie star and failed. That is no great revelation. You repeated what we already know. Then you repeated what I said and added your own conclusion. Then you explained why the conclusion (that you added) is wrong.

[quote] She was obviously a woman who was ahead of her time. She understood celebrity and the future of it. Social media, YouTube and reality tv are all platforms of which she could have really take advantage. She however finagled a 21st century career during the 20th century without those platforms.

Yeah, well Mansfield would have been a flash in the pan in the era of Reality TV an Social Media, too.

Like I said, she understood that the public wants personas it can love or be fascinated with, but that doesn't mean that she could build a persona the public would love over the long-term.

If she were around today, would she be more like:

Charo?

Angelyne?

Brendad Ickson?

Edy Williams?

R104, She would be like Mamie Van Doren.

Marilyn Monroe looks like she's purposely ignoring Mansfield. "I don't know her."

Mansfield looks like she's circling MM and trying to say hello.

Sophia Loren and Jayne Mansfield. Same event that R56 posted (exact same outfits on both women, so I'm assuming). Sophia Loren looks like she's trying to ignore Jayne and "focus on her salad."

R106, Yes, Marilyn was engrossed in conversation, and here comes Jayne sashaying in. She probably was the one who tipped the photographer to get ready to snap their picture.

Sophia Loren wasn't happy to see JM at that party being given for herself, and knew fully well what could happen, and it did.

Mind you Ms. Loren is no slouch in the stacked department herself, but always was a lady off screen. JM OTOH was like taxes; she just didn't know when to stop.

Loren bared her tits on screen before Mansfield did.

Film footage of actual party.

It really was rude of JM to have dressed and behaved as she did; she's lucky someone didn't slap her face with a "Basta!" comment thrown in.

R110

On screen is one thing, going to a party with one's bosom hanging out is quite another.

Jane's last starring role was in a completed film was in "Las Vegas Hillbillys." She had second billing, following the great Ferlin Husky.

If you google Image search Sophia Loren and cleavage, you'll find similar pics to that of Mansfield, and not just movie costumes.

Sally Kirkland and Edy Williams, I would say R104.

I doubt Mansfield would have gotten an Oscar nomination.

Had she lived by the 1970's and certainly 1980's onward JM would have been an irrelevant joke. Even MM knew the days of "dumb blonde bombshell" roles were fast coming to an end. To her credit MM began working very hard to extract herself out of that genre with an eye to more meatier or at least less "dumb" roles.

Jane Russell had the talent to go on and do Broadway and vocal work. Then of course came those adverts for Playtex directed at "full figured" gals. JR had the class to sell such things to decent American women. No one would touch something JM advertised, well outside of Fredrick's of Hollywood anyway.

Also at the table that night was Clifton Webb.....he did not seem to be amused.

Mansfield might have emulated Anita Ekberg with some nunsploitation.

JM looks like a party crasher and a try-hard at that party. Geez.

Had no idea those infamous pictures were banned or censored outside of USA.

Those who think that Marilyn's career would have kept going into the sixties, need to look at Mansfield's career. Tastes were changing, curvy blonde bombshells were going out, especially if they were older or held up production because they couldn't stand to come out of their trailers.

If it's true that Mansfield held onto her money, then she probably would have left showbiz and opened a lingerie shop in LA or something like. It'd give her something to do, and a place where her old fans could come and coo over her. And showbiz would no longer have had any use for her.

Sheree North proved that transitioning out of the platinum bombshell image could be done.

Mansfield would have had a mother daughter act with Mariska.

IMO, Elizabeth Taylor's trajectory was about as good as you could hope for. Didn't die prematurely. Children not writing "Mommie Dearest" books. No crazy plastic surgery. Did something worthwhile with her fame (raised awareness about AIDS & lessened the stigma).

R123

Sheree North's career in the end largely was on television. Not that there is anything bad about that; scores if not hundreds of former film actors and even products of studio system also found work in that medium. But the film career 20th Century Fox and others had planned at beginning never really happened.

There was just no way JM was going to be confined by and disciplplined enough for television dramas, sitcoms or whatever. Game show or other special limited appearances yes, that would probably work.

There were however a good number of stacked actresses who found work in television, film and even theatre in 1960's and 1970's.

Barbara Rhoades was one such actress, but she like the others were totally different from "dumb blondes".

I could definitely see Mansfield doing more low rent Italian movies, maybe even some "James Bond" / martial arts movies in Asia, probably only as a guest star. She could have played Margo in Charlies Angels!

One actress who did manage to get work into the 1970's perpetuating the "dumb stacked blonde" was late Carol Wayne.

We'll give Siouxsie a moment here.

R128

By 1970's like that character from Valley of the Dolls JM would have been doing "art films" in Europe.

[quote]R98 I wonder if Anna Nicole....

Anna Nicole started out being quite beautiful - even though she was mentally retarded.

Jayne Mansfield was basically pig-faced.

Even as a child, you can see Smith had pretty amazing bone structure.

Mansfield was not remotely pig faced. And Anna Nicole had an unfortunate pointy chin.

ANS tried to channel MM but was unfortunately more like JM.

I’m loving these pics. More, more!

Stella Stevens was another blonde bombshell of the same era, who kept working forever. She played aging but likeable blonde roles into the seventies (those that Valerie Perrine turned down), and then became a character actress. Did a long run on a soap in the 1990s, and IMDB shows a few credits in the 2000s.

Mansfield seemed too committed to her image to keep acting, I mean look at her Christmas tree, she started out as a caricature and would have aged into an Angelyne.

Oh Mickey you're so fine...

[quote]This was the sodomy room.

Have you ever tried to get santorum out of a polar-bearskin rug?

Let's try that again.

[quote]R137 Stella Stevens was another blonde bombshell of the same era, who kept working forever. She played aging but likeable blonde roles into the seventies (those that Valerie Perrine turned down),

Stella Stevens was an actual actress.

Mansfield and Smith were sloppy stripper/whores/centerfolds who pushed their way into performing for a brief while.

[quote]R134 Mansfield was not remotely pig faced.

Excuse me... she definitely WAS pig faced.

It’s why Mariska Hargitay looks kind of crude and borderline dikey to this day.

No hiding the peasant stock with this one:

She looks like Shelley Winters at R142. That's exactly what I mean when I say she's coarse looking. MM had more refined features and even without make up she was pretty.

DL favorite Loni Anderson played Jayne Mansfield in the biopic. Here's LA with Miss Lynda Carter.

Well, to be fair, MM did have a little plastic surgery early on to refine her features. But she was utterly lovely.

I’m surprised Anna Nicole has such inherently balanced, sharp features even though she was hillbilly trash. But there you go - life’s full of mysteries.

Jayne’s pug face looks like there’s a lot of bullfrog in her family tree. But then, all anyone cared about was her boobs and those were natural. So at least she got those right.

Loni is another one with that coarse, cow-ish look. Never got her appeal. I thought the other girl in WKRP was prettier.

Loni is another one with that coarse, cow-ish look. Never got her appeal. I thought the other girl in WKRP was prettier.

R137 I prefer Marilyn's 1951 Christmas photo. JM copied everything she did.

Mansfield was offered the Tina Louise role on GILLIGANS ISLAND. Turned it down because she was "too big" a star.

I think Mariska is lovely looking. I wonder what her siblings look like.

There’s a topless pic on JM wiki page she had super small nipples

R102: Based on your comment history, you sure live up to (or rather, down to) DL's pointless bitchery theme. You type with a chip on your shoulder.

I said she wanted enduring fame. All thirsty famehos want that. Kim K and Logan Paul don't want the spotlight to end and Jayne was no different. That's why I wrote: "she didn't understand how to achieve enduring fame as it was defined in her time." Lawrence Quirk even quoted her desire for it: "'ll be here for the long haul--you'll see--I know just what I'm doing!' she told me." So I was correct.

Except she didn't know what she was doing because she ended up as a flash in the pan, a joke instead of an icon. Other posters have already mentioned how she spent more time on publicity stunts, displaying her boobs, and copying Marilyn ad nauseam instead of working on her craft and lobbying for good parts. She's remembered for her tackiness. Her "career" was as short as an average fashion model's.

[quote]And we all know that she wanted to be a an A list movie star and failed. That is no great revelation. You repeated what we already know.

"We?" You speak for everyone here, stan? Get over yourself. I'm posting my opinion. You're posting yours. It's funny that you're positioning yourself as the smug resident expert and gatekeeper. Are you striving to be a Jayne Mansfield scholar? LOL!

[quote]Then you repeated what I said and added your own conclusion

So? You first replied to my post at R52 and quoted me. I responded back and quoted part of what you wrote. I added my own conclusion, which is the prerogative of every commenter. Why is this an issue?

[quote]Then you explained why the conclusion (that you added) is wrong.

Clarify this. Point out what was wrong. I posted my opinion and you don't agree. Shocker. But your tone is overly indignant. Amusing.

You must be quarrelsome in real life, too.

More JM meets SL photos.

You can see at first JM has her fur wrap on , that garment soon goes and she keeps bending lower and lower over the table and Sophia Loren. It's almost as if she is trying to breast feed or something.

Of course it was all carefully planned by JM from the start. A master at manipulation and upstaging JM knew where the cameras were going to point and made sure to give an eye full.

It really was vulgar and tacky of JM to have upstaged Sophia Loren that way, or even behave in such a manner as a party guest. But that was JM all over, it is what she did, what she lived for, and thus why people consider her a tacky joke. Even MM with all her insecurities and whatever knew how to act in public.

JM was not unlike many drag queens or trans today; you can't go anywhere with them in public because everything is about them all the time. They are never "off", but always on, even to point of being embarrassing.

R153, well that is desperation in one photo.

JM:"I know this party is in your honor, Sophia, but what about my boobs? Hey everyone, look at me. LOOK AT MEEE!

[quote] Those who think that Marilyn's career would have kept going into the sixties, need to look at Mansfield's career.

There is no comparison to their careers. Jayne’s has already flamed out, and had been running on fumes aside from a very brief period. While Monroe had a new, improved contract at Fox waiting for her to sign when she died. She was poised to make the big budget WHAT A WAY TO GO (taken over by Shirley MacLaine) and the more dramatic Tennessee Williams project THE STRIPPER (done by Joanne Woodward)

By 1962 MM was an A List star who needed rehab, but was still popular with the public. JM was a D Lister people couldn’t get away from fast enough, unless it was bit part stunt casting where she’d go topless (PROMISES, PROMISES).

The shlock mockumentary "The Wild Wild World of Jayne Mansfield" (thrown together after Jayne's death and narrated by a Jayne voice-double) has some historical interest with footage of Jayne visiting a Gay and Lesbian dance club and a drag beauty contest, and a brief interview with a unnamed Jayne Mansfield impersonator .

You can see this role’s been tailored for Monroe:

The sherbet colored dress worn by Abbe Lincoln in R94's clip was worn by Marilyn in the dining room scene in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. Lincoln kept and supposedly burned the dress after she left Fox.

r109 Sophia should have been less worried about Jayne's rack spilling into the soup and more worried about her sexless hair style. What the hell did Sophie's stylist do to her hair?

These globes scream back problems. Ouch.

[italic]I’M SORRY DL![/italic]

“The Stripper” is based on a play by William Inge, not Tennessee Williams : (

r125 that's why when people talk about ancient Hollywood stars, I place Elizabeth Taylor on the top my list. She did it all and ended life surrounded by a loving family and MOUNTAINS of cash and jewels. Those other women wish they could play the game like Taylor. MM's name might live past Taylors, but she made her mark and was a super star.

There's a scene in The Sopranos, I think season 2, where Janice is sitting in Tony's living room watching TV. Tony sits down next to her and they have a short conversation. We see and hear clips from the TV, which is AJ Benza narrating the E! True Hollywood Story about Jayne, and they show Jayne and her naked tits floating in a pool.

R156

Sadly there are only various clips of "The Wild Wild World of Janye Mansfield" online free, but highly suggest folks seek out entire film. It is a hoot.

R163

"show Jayne and her naked tits floating in a pool."

Exchange of conversation, tossed off early in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, as Marilyn and Jane board the Ile de France: “If this ship hit an iceberg and sank, which one would you save?" To which his admiring companion gurgles: “Those girls couldn't drown.

Cannot recall which bosom actress it was at the moment, but during WWII (?) at least one branch of service nicknamed their life jackets after her.

Jayne Mansfield had a few bit parts in a 1967 exploitation film called "Spree". It seems comical and rather tame today, but guess for those in late 1960's "subversive behavior" was where you found it.

R165, The B-4 life preservers were dubbed the "Mae West."

Was William Conrad narrating the trailer for Spree? And hadn't Jayne birthed out five babies by 1967? Her figure still looks good.

Thought same thing, that it was voice of William Conrad. However IMDb page lists narrator as Syd Field, so guess not.

The thing with MM was she hated film-making, it literally made her sick. The Prince and the Showgirl, Some Like it Hot, Let's Make Love, and The Misfits were excruciating experiences for everyone. Olivier came to realize much later that she was a model who loved the still camera, but was terrified of movie cameras. It took her 50 takes to get one line right in SLIH: "Where's that bourbon?" They taped the line in the drawer for her and then she opened the wrong drawer. Billy Wilder told her not to worry, MM replied "Worry about what?"

[quote] The thing with MM was she hated film-making, it literally made her sick.

Not only that, she was notoriously late. Unprofessional.

Both Diana Dors and Jayne Mansfield were looking a little too past their prime by 1966. This was the time of the Youthquake and having Twiggy-like bodies. These gals looked "old guard" to be considered cool. Their contemporary Audrey Hepburn, OTOH, was still making A list pictures at this point because she fit right in with current trends.

By 1962, Marilyn had lost a considerable amount of weight and was looking svelte and modern. She could've given Miss Hepburn a run for her money had she lived. Maybe Marilyn in "Wait Until Dark" or "Two for the Road."

I think MM was looking her most beautiful just before she died. The (comparatively) softer makeup that was coming into style looked good on her.

R171

Generally you find those who are chronically late have some sort of mental issues going on. Attention Deficit Disorder, depression, passive-aggressive are probably top few, but there likely are others.

MM was a bundle of insecurities which likely also made her what people called "difficult" to work with, always late, etc... These were all various manifestations of various issues that one would have thought the small fortune she paid in analysts bills would have helped.

R173

MM's entire outfit from head to toe including accessories is just all kinds of chic. Would totally fit in today hands down. MM was rocking that "effortlessly casual" look. Would that more women looked like that when flying today, instead of like they just rolled out of bed still in their jammies.

R175 , they are also hallmarks of serious substance abuse - which MM certainly was very familiar with. Whatever the case, she seemed unable to learn her lines and was perpetually nervous in front of the camera. Most humans would be - only a select few pull it off effortlessly. I do feel for the other actors who have to repeat their scene 100 times so that the "star" can get hers correct finally.

R174 I've always said the same thing about Marilyn. Right before she died and in the late 40s when she was really coming into her Hollywood beauty are the years in my personal opinion is when she was truly stunning.

1950s Marilyn was fine to, but I prefer Marilyn right before her huge Movie Stardom and right before she passed. I've noticed with a lot of stars that they seem to look their best right before they die.

I've always wondered what that was about and if anyone else ever noticed the same thing about certain celebrities looking their best just right before they died?

[quote]R178 I've always wondered what that was about and if anyone else ever noticed the same thing about certain celebrities looking their best just right before they died?

JM wasn’t one of them, sadly. She looked literally “fucked out.”

What happened to Jayne? It seemed like her looks were always changing or something. Almost like she a dozen different faces before she died.

Really bizarre.

It's not remotely bizarre. The woman was frequently pregnant and she was the breadwinner. You do the math.

OP, if I had been married to Mickey Hagarty, I wouldn't have been looking at the walls.

^ I know I mistyped his name, don't start.

You made him Irish.

How many kids did she have?

R58 I imagine that stuck in Tina Louise's craw when she heard about it.

r181: And she was a BIG boozer. Booze Bloat.

Jayne and her movies were always a big part of Playboy magazine's sex in the movies issue, and she did some layouts for them....

Then in the February,1965, we got this from the Beatles:

GEORGE: "And Jayne Mansfield. PLAYBOY made her."

PAUL: "She's a bit different, isn't she? Different."

RINGO: "She's soft."

GEORGE: "Soft and warm."

PAUL: "Actually, she's a clot."

RINGO: "...says Paul, the god of the Beatles."

PAUL: "I didn't mean it, Beatle People! Actually, I haven't even met her. But you won't print that anyway, of course, because PLAYBOY is very pro-Mansfield. They think she's a rave. But she really is an old bag."

Jayne was never mentioned or pictured in Playboy again.

And Paul McCartney looks like an old lesbian, so he knows something about old bags.

...r189 you also forget they Paul is still famous, rich, and most importantly, alive So he still wins.

Paul married Heather Mills. No fool like an old fool.

An account of the Mansfield/Lennon meeting.

R172: They gave them BOTH a fucking chihuahua?

Thank you, r192, I've never read that account. I love Jayne's shade to Mamie.

"I booked a call for 12 midnight to give Jaynie a chance to return from the theatre. “Jayne,” I said, “what were those first momentous words uttered by a Beatle to you upon your formal presentation at their Bel-Air mansion?”

“Well,” said Jaynie M. breathing heavily into the telephone, “John Lennon said to me, ‘I’ve been looking forward to meeting you, Miss Mansfield.’ And I corrected him and said, ‘Jaynie.’ And I replied, ‘I’ve been absolutely dying to meet you marvelous boys – but where are the others?’ Then John told me that Paul, George and Ringo had decided I wasn’t coming and had all gone over to Burt Lancaster’s.

Jaynie continued to purr into the telephone. She had only come offstage from playing the Marylyn Monroe party in Bus Stop and she sounded like Marilyn but with Jaynie infectious and overwhelming good humor. “Then John and I got to discussing dancing and the Watusi and I suggested we both go to the Whisky Au Go-Go to try it. John liked the idea and someone made the remark that the other Beatles would murder poor John when they got home and found out what he’d been doing.”

Once they arrived at the Whisky Au Go-Go what did Jaynie and John talk about? “It was a very high level discussion,” Jaynie breathed to me through the telephone, “We discussed this year’s Shakespeare Festival, you know. We then discussed poetry. And we talked about John’s book and my record album, "Tchaikovsky, Shakespeare and Me".

“Mamie Van Doren came over to introduce herself to The Beatles. But to be quite honest,” confided Jaynie, “I don’t think they knew who she was.

“Unfortunately,” said Jaynie, “we could get no privacy. You have to be 21 to get into the Whiskey Au Go-Go but all the adults were acting like teenagers. And when George and Ringo arrived they had to be lifted over the crowds pressed up against the table to get to us.” What did Jayne think of George? “Gorgeous” was her word. “He’s so composed and relaxed.” And Ringo? “He’s darling,” effervesced Jaynie. “He has such a tremendous, such a tremendous reserve. He doesn’t say anything unless it is important.”

But what did Jayne think of Paul, the guy who started it all? “Paulie and I didn’t get to meet,” confessed Jaynie. “The poor boy slept through it all.” (Paul had retired after returning home to the Bel-air house.)

R8. Your second sentence answers your first question.

[R179]That wig!Clearly she had no stylist on budget at the time.

More dirt on JM and the Beatles.

Apparently Jayne Mansfield was determined to bed one or more of the group, but Paul McCartney and rest wanted no parts of her.

[quote][bold]John Lennon 'urinated in cocktail before watching American sex symbol Jayne Mansfield drink it'[/bold]

[quote]Monday, May 11, 2015 - The legendary musician was being pursued at The Beatles rented mansion in Los Angeles by blonde actress who was intent on seducing Lennon.

[quote]John Lennon urinated in a cocktail before giving it to one of America's best-known sex symbol's and watching her drink it, a new book has claimed.

[quote]The legendary musician was being pursued at The Beatles rented mansion in Los Angeles by blonde actress Jayne Mansfield, who was intent on seducing Lennon.

[quote]However, the Beatle took a dislike to the actress after she began tugging at his distinctive hair.

[quote]In revenge, Lennon urinated into the actress' cocktail before watching in delight as she drank it.

[quote]According to the book, called The Beatles: Messages From John, Paul, George And Ringo,Mansfield drank the drink before declaring it was "a real humdinger".

[quote]Lennon eventually told the actress later in a nightclub what had been in the drink - which he called a Beatle Special.

[quote]He was then forced to make a quick exit from the club after the actress attempting to attack him.

Christmas portrait with Zoltan.

R199 That's after Zoltan was mauled by a lion. What ever happened to him?

R200, he was a carpenter/prop maker on movie sets. Last imdb credit was in 1997.

I hope that Mariska shares some of the millions of dollars she earns every year with her two brothers and her older half-sister Jayne Marie.

r198 wow, if true they are all garbage, minus Jayne. I get it, she was a sex symbol and a bit of a joke by the 60s, but that blatant disrespect is appalling. Glad I always found their music boring.

They all seemed like miserable bastards R203.

Here's a memory of Lennon from Little Richard:

[Quote] John had a nasty personality … John would do his no-manners [break wind] and jump over and fan it all over the room, and I didn’t like it. You know, sometimes he would do two in a row and say, “Oooh whee! He did two tonight.” It would bother me. I didn’t want to hear that stuff, y’know.

R203

Well JM was being a bit too free with her hands in ways the guys didn't appreciate. Ok, nothing justifies what happened next, but think JM totally over estimated herself in that situation. British are known for being reserved, even if from working or middle class backgrounds. For Jane Mansfield to just start pawing over some young men she had only recently met like a bitch in heat was a bit much.

The Beatles had come of age in Germany. They were not wet behind the ears.

Bullshit take by whomever wrote that r206. By the time they landed in Hollywood there were getting pawed by women everywhere they went. This modesty crap is simply crap. I get not liking your hair being touched, I'm sure JM wouldn't want anyone to pull on her hideous wigs, but that doesn't justify peeing into someone's drink. Can't be considered a reserved Brit one minute then pissing in someone's drink the next. I don't know how that person puts those two viewpoints into the same sentence about one person.

[quote] "Mamie Van Doren came over to introduce herself to The Beatles. But to be quite honest,” confided Jaynie, “I don’t think they knew who she was.

Slam!

The more I hear about The Beatles, the more turned off I get by them. Why the fuck do we even allow Brits in the US?

And John Lennon seemed like a hypocrite to me. Wasn't he supposed to be anti wealthy elite, but was rich as fuck and collected lots of high end real estate o live in? And was very money focused in his career?

I can't stand Hypocrites like him and yoko. Pushing modesty while they live in opulence.