Jayne Mansfield



The second most famous of the "Blonde Bombshells" of The Fifties, Jayne Mansfield paralleled Marilyn Monroe in many ways.
 * She was not a natural blonde.
 * She was a lot smarter than her roles portrayed her as (she spoke five languages, and managed much of her publicity).
 * She appeared in Playboy (but Mansfield was a centerfold).
 * She was married three times (but had five children instead of being childless, one of which was Mariska Hargitay of Law and Order Special Victims Unit).
 * She tragically died young (only Mansfield didn't commit suicide nor is her death shrouded in conspiracy theory the way Marilyn Monroe's death was. Jayne Mansfield died in a car accident in 1967 while driving to a talk show gig in Louisiana. The only dubious detail about her death is the Urban Legend that she was decapitated in the accident. Mansfield actually had her skull crushed in and her hair was found on the side of the road. Whether it was her actual hair or a wig is up for debate, but it's most likely that it was her real hair and scalp)

Her legacy isn't as famous as Marilyn's, but she is an important part of film history.


 * The Girl Can't Help It (notably inspired future members of The British Invasion, including John Lennon and Paul McCartney)
 * Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (both the play and the radically altered movie)


 * Darkskinned Blonde: This is especially notable in a 1955 photograph which depicts her and Marilyn Monroe glaring at each other after meeting at a movie premiere. Even though the photo is in black-and-white, Jayne's somewhat darker skin and much lighter blonde hair appear in stark contrast to Marilyn's features.
 * Dumb Blonde: Just on-screen.
 * Her IQ was reportedly at or close to genius-level.
 * Family-Unfriendly Death: Mansfield died in a rather grisly car accident. Her kids were in the back seat at the time and received only minor physical trauma.
 * Fur Bikini: More like an angora one, but still counts.
 * Going Fur a Swim (a scene in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter)
 * Hair of Gold: Even though, like Marilyn Monroe, she wasn't born a blond.
 * Hello, Nurse!
 * Off With Her Head: How she died, at least according to urban legend. Not that the way she actually died -- getting the top of her head crushed -- was any better. It might be more accurate to say that she was scalped, but even that severely understates just how horrific her death was.
 * Pimped-Out Dress (the dress in the page picture, among others)
 * Pink Means Feminine: She loved the color pink and was often seen wearing outfits of that color; in fact, she famously had her best-known residence done up in pink, right down to the bathtub.
 * Poor Man's Substitute: Possibly the Trope Codifier. In the mid-50s, Fox and Marilyn Monroe had a contract dispute. To put pressure on Marilyn, the studio decided to find a substitute. Enter aspiring actress Mansfield who thought becoming a real life Marilyn Expy would jump start her career. She was partially right -- she got starring roles a lot sooner than if she'd worked her way up the ladder, but it led to her being labeled as "The Poor Man's Marilyn Monroe" (in that the movies Mansfield starred in were fewer and not as popular as Marilyn's). Unfortunately this led to type-casting as a blonde bimbo, and when the '60s arrived and styles changed, demand for her dropped.
 * Pretty in Mink
 * Sexy Walk
 * Slippery Swimsuit: Jayne carefully orchestrated losing her bikini top in front of reporters during the launch of the Jane Russell film Underwater!; upstaging the star and landing herself a major studio contract.
 * So Beautiful It's a Curse
 * Sweater Girl
 * Trope Namer: Sort of. The underride guard of modern tractor trailers is known as a "Mansfield Bar", a reference to her rather unsexy demise.