Hungarian-born Mickey Hargitay, former bodybuilder, ex-husband of 50s blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield, and father of Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay, died this past Thursday, according to a statement released by his publicist yesterday.
Born in 1926, Hargitay came to the United States after World War II and became interested in bodybuilding after seeing actor Steve Reeves on the cover of a magazine, Reeves being the actor in various Hercules films. Hargitay then went on to be named Mr. Olympia, Mr. America, and Mr. Universe, and also starred alongside his wife in The Loves of Hercules.
The two met while he was performing as a muscleman in Mae West's stage revue at The Latin Quarter in New York. The famous story goes that when Mansfield's dinner companion asker her "what will you have?" she answered "I'll have a steak and the man on the left." The two married in 1958 and had three children together, including Mariska, born in 1964. The couple divorced later that year.
After Mansfield was killed in an auto accident in 1967, Hargitay sued her estate for $275,000 in child support, which she agreed to be responsible for in their divorce settlement.
Although the father and daughter starred together in a 2003 episode of Law & Order: SVU, Hargitay had been ailing in recent years, with Mariska paying tributes to her father at last year's Golden Globes awards, and last month's Emmy awards ceremony, where she tearfully thanked him, adding that "he is the reason I am standing here today." She cancelled an appearance on the Tonight Show in August in order to be with him as his condition worsened.
Hargitay and Mansfield will always be remembered as that classic Hollywood couple, living in the "Pink Palace," famous for its pink walls, pink lights, pink furs, and pink heart-shaped swimming pool (built by Hargitay, a former plumber and carpenter). The end of their marriage also marked the end of an era long gone in Hollywood.
