The Tragic Death Of Jayne Mansfield Icon And Image/Getty Images
By Samantha Sanders/Dec. 24, 2020 4:11 pm EDT
On a clear June night in 1967, after the last of her two performances at a supper club in Biloxi, Mississippi, actress, pinup, and Hollywood bombshell Jayne Mansfield decided to travel on to New Orleans, where she was scheduled to make a TV appearance the following day. Along for the ride were her boyfriend (and divorce attorney) Samuel Brody, and three of her children (including then three-year-old Mariska Hargitay, star of
Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, along with two of her older brothers).
According to NOLA.com, the group set off in a 1966 Buick Electra convertible with 19-year-old driver Ronald Harrison behind the wheel. The plan was to arrive at their destination, the Roosevelt Hotel, later that morning. They never made it.