Mickey Hargitay
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Miklós Károly "Mickey" Hargitay (January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006) was a Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder. Born in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, Hargitay moved to the United States in 1947 and eventually became an American citizen. He was married to actress Jayne Mansfield and is the putative father of actress
Mariska Hargitay Mariska Magdolna Hargitay Mariska says her own first name and the name of her father; the interviewer, James Lipton, also says her full name near the start of the show. (; born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and philanthrop ...
(her biological father was later revealed to be singer Nelson Sardelli). During their marriage, Hargitay and Mansfield made four movies together: '' Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' (1957), '' The Loves of Hercules'' (1960), '' Promises! Promises!'' (1963), and '' Primitive Love'' (1964).


Early life and early career

Miklós Károly Hargitay (or Hargitai) was born in
Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...
, Hungary, on January 6, 1926. He was the son of Ferenc and Mária (Rothsischer) Hargitay (or Hargitai). Hargitay was one of four children of an athletic father. He and his brothers were all brought up as athletes. During his youth, Hargitay was part of an acrobatic act with his brothers. The act was so popular that the brothers performed throughout all Hungary, including the largest opera house in Budapest. After being introduced to the sport by his brother, Hargitay began competing in
speed skating Speed skating is a competitive form of ice skating in which the competitors race each other in travelling a certain distance on skates. Types of speed skating are long-track speed skating, short-track speed skating, and marathon speed skat ...
. In 1946, he won the Middle European championship at 500 and 1,500 meters, and placed second in the 5,000 meter race. He was also a proficient
football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...
player, and was an underground fighter during
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. In 1947, aged 21, Hargitay left Hungary to emigrate to the United States to avoid being drafted into military service by the
Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
. The
Hungarian People's Republic The Hungarian People's Republic (HPR) was a landlocked country in Central Europe from its formation on 20 August 1949 until the establishment of the current Hungary, Republic of Hungary on 23 October 1989. It was a professed Communist_state# ...
was then part of the
Eastern Bloc The Eastern Bloc, also known as the Communist Bloc (Combloc), the Socialist Bloc, the Workers Bloc, and the Soviet Bloc, was an unofficial coalition of communist states of Central and Eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, and Latin America that were a ...
, with close ties to communist Russia. He settled in
Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...
, where he worked as a plumber and carpenter and also performed in an acrobatic act with his first wife, Mary Birge. He was inspired to begin
bodybuilding Bodybuilding is the practice of Resistance training, progressive resistance exercise to build, control, and develop one's skeletal muscle, muscles via muscle hypertrophy, hypertrophy. An individual who engages in this activity is referred to a ...
after seeing a magazine cover featuring Steve Reeves. Hargitay won the National Amateur Body-Builders' Association (NABBA) Mr. Universe award in 1955. Hargitay is credited with influencing the enormous interest in physical fitness prevalent in the US during the 1950s. He appeared as a pin-up model in fitness magazines. After
Mae West Mary Jane "Mae" West (August 17, 1893 – November 22, 1980) was an American actress, singer, comedian, screenwriter, and playwright whose career spanned more than seven decades. Recognized as a prominent sex symbol of her time, she was known ...
saw his photo on a magazine cover, Hargitay joined West's muscleman revue.


Acting career

Hargitay's first film role came when Jayne Mansfield demanded that he be cast in her movie, '' Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?'' (1957). The two fell in love and were described as inseparable.
20th Century Fox 20th Century Studios, Inc., formerly 20th Century Fox, is an American film studio, film production and Film distributor, distribution company owned by the Walt Disney Studios (division), Walt Disney Studios, the film studios division of the ...
did not want Hargitay to appear in ''Rock Hunter'' because they disliked Mansfield's view of Hargitay as her "only" lover; Fox preferred their sex symbols to be single. In 1960, Hargitay and Mansfield played the lead roles in '' The Loves of Hercules''. The film was shot in Italy, and has never been released in movie theaters in the United States, though it is available on
Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...
under the title ''Hercules vs. Hydra'' and under its original title as episode 1108 of ''
Mystery Science Theater 3000 ''Mystery Science Theater 3000'' (abbreviated as ''MST3K'') is an American science fiction comedy television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on WUCW, KTMA-TV (now WUCW) in Saint Paul, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then ...
'' (2017). Over the next four years, Hargitay and Mansfield would appear together in '' Promises! Promises!'' (1963) and '' Primitive Love'' (1964). In 1965, Hargitay played the lead role in '' Bloody Pit of Horror'' without Mansfield. Hargitay's acting career was not limited to the United States; he also appeared in many Italian productions, and acted in Hungarian director György Szomjas' 1988 film, ''Mr. Universe''. In 2003, Hargitay guest-starred on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit'', the series in which his daughter Mariska stars. He performed as a witness to a violent crime.


Personal life

Hargitay's first wife was fellow acrobat Mary Birge. Hargitay had a daughter, Tina, with Birge in 1949. Hargitay and Birge later divorced. Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield met in 1956 while he was performing in ''The Mae West Show'' at the Latin Quarter. When Mansfield noticed Hargitay performing, she allegedly told the waiter, "I'll have a steak and that tall man on the left." The couple married on January 13, 1958 at the
Wayfarers Chapel Wayfarers Chapel, or "The Glass Church" is a disassembled chapel designed by Lloyd Wright and originally located in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. The chapel had unique organic architecture sited on a bluff above the Pacific Ocean. Affiliate ...
in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. They had three children: Miklós, Zoltán, and (putatively) Mariska.
Mariska Hargitay Mariska Magdolna Hargitay Mariska says her own first name and the name of her father; the interviewer, James Lipton, also says her full name near the start of the show. (; born January 23, 1964) is an American actress, producer, and philanthrop ...
grew up to be an actress, starring on '' Law & Order: Special Victims Unit''. Hargitay remodeled much of his and Mansfield's
Beverly Hills Beverly Hills is a city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. A notable and historic suburb of Los Angeles, it is located just southwest of the Hollywood Hills, approximately northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Beverly Hil ...
mansion, known as " The Pink Palace", building its famous heart-shaped swimming pool. In November 2002, the house was razed by developers who had purchased it from Engelbert Humperdinck. In May 2025, longtime rumors that Brazilian-Italian singer-comedian Nelson Sardelli, who Mansfeld had an affair with during the time she was in the process of divorcing Hargitay between 1963 and 1964, was Mariska's biological father were confirmed to be true, though Mariska assumed Hargitay was her biological father until she was 25. Despite his not being her biological father, Mariska still had loyalty to Mickey and accepted him as her father. In May 1963, Hargitay and Mansfield filed for divorce in
Ciudad Juárez Ciudad Juárez ( , ; "Juárez City"), commonly referred to as just Juárez (Lipan language, Lipan: ''Tsé Táhú'ayá''), is the most populous city in the Administrative divisions of Mexico, Mexican state of Chihuahua (state), Chihuahua. It was k ...
. The divorce was ruled invalid, and the two reconciled in October 1963. After Mariska's birth, Mansfield sued for the Juárez divorce to be declared legal and ultimately won. The divorce was recognized in the United States on August 26, 1964. After Mansfield's death in a car crash on June 29, 1967, Hargitay sued Mansfield's estate for over
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
275,000 ($ in ) to support the children. In their divorce decree, Mansfield had agreed to pay child support, as well as to give Hargitay approximately $70,000 ($ in ) in cash and property. Hargitay married Ellen Siano on April 14, 1968. Hargitay and Siano remained married until his death.


Death

On September 14, 2006, Hargitay died in
Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, aged 80, from
multiple myeloma Multiple myeloma (MM), also known as plasma cell myeloma and simply myeloma, is a cancer of plasma cells, a type of white blood cell that normally produces antibody, antibodies. Often, no symptoms are noticed initially. As it progresses, bone ...
. In Hargitay's obituary, the ''
Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...
'' quoted bodybuilding historian Gene Mozee as stating the following: "
Walter Winchell Walter Winchell (April 7, 1897 – February 20, 1972) was a syndicated American newspaper gossip columnist and radio news commentator. Originally a vaudeville performer, Winchell began his newspaper career as a Broadway reporter, critic and c ...
once said that what residentEisenhower did for golf, Mickey Hargitay did for bodybuilding, because he brought it to the forefront... Back in those days, bodybuilding was thought of as a freakish, unusual activity that wasn't popular with the general public... At that time, athletic coaches discouraged lifting weights, thinking you'd become musclebound. And along came Mickey Hargitay, a great all-around athlete".


In popular culture

Hargitay was portrayed by
Arnold Schwarzenegger Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, businessman, former politician, and former professional bodybuilder, known for his roles in high-profile action films. Governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger, ...
in the 1980 television film '' The Jayne Mansfield Story''.


Filmography


Film


Television


References and footnotes


External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hargitay, Miklos 1926 births 2006 deaths Hungarian emigrants to the United States Hungarian male bodybuilders Deaths from multiple myeloma in California Deaths from bone cancer in California 20th-century American male actors 21st-century American male actors Male actors from Budapest Hungarian resistance members American male film actors American male television actors Naturalized citizens of the United States People associated with physical culture Jayne Mansfield