The day that Jayne Mansfield met Mariska Hargitay’s dad, Mickey, May 13,1956.

“On 13 May 1956, the course of Jayne’s life changed – that night, she and Jule Styne attended Mae West’s show at the Latin Quarter. In 1954 Mae – her film and theatre career on the wane – began touring nightclubs in a music and comedy act, backed by eight musclemen dressed in diaper-like shorts … by 1956 one of her musclemen was Miklos “Mickey” Hargitay, who had been born in Budapest in 1926 … with the body of a Tom of Finland drawing and a handsome, boyish face, Mickey was just what Mae West was looking for … the meeting of Mickey and Jayne was no freak of fate; Mickey’s fame as Mae’s handsomest chorus boy (“the male Jayne Mansfield”) was already widespread, and Jayne told Jule Styne that she wanted two things that night: an introduction to Mr. Universe and a $6 steak for her dog. She got both. Mickey – decades later – recalled their first meeting. “I was singing a song, “Everything I Have is Yours”, and I was looking down there and I see a girl, blonde hair, just like Mae West. And she had a milkshake! I fell in love! And so did she. Both of us.” The two briefly met after the show, phone numbers were exchanged, and the game was on.”

/ From Jayne Mansfield: The Girl Couldn’t Help It (2021) by Eve Golden /

Pause to reflect that on this day, ultimate showbiz couple Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay met for the first time. A seismic moment in world history! Pic: the glorious duo snapped in December 1956 .