Mariska Hargitay Posts Heartbreaking Mother’s Day Message to Late Mom Jayne Mansfield

For Mother’s Day 2025, Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay posted a lovely message to her late mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, who died very young in a tragic car accident.

“💖 Happy Mother’s Day to #MyMomJayne. I carry your strength, your determination, and your love with me every day. #HappyMothersDay #JayneMansfield,” wrote Hargitay on Instagram.

On May 8, to commemorate a special anniversary for her family, Hargitay posted a rare family photo from her brother’s birthday and wrote about how the Mildred Strauss Child Care Chapter of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City had named their family “Family of the Year” in 1960.

“On May 8th, 1960 (which was Mother’s Day), the Mildred Strauss Child Care Chapter of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City declared #MyMomJayne and family, “Family of the Year.” What a sweet way to honor my parents and siblings on a day all about celebrating motherhood,” wrote Harigtay.

Hargitay is not in the photo, as she was not yet born. The photo consists of her mother, father Mickey Hargitay, sister Jayne-Marie, and brothers Mickey Jr. and Zoltan celebrating Mickey Jr.’s birthday in Zurich, Germany.

In 1967, when Mansfield was just 34 years old, she was killed in a terrible car accident. Mansfield, her attorney and boyfriend Sam Brody, and the 19-year-old driver named Ronald Harrison were in the front seat, and Hargitay and her brothers Mickey Jr., 8, and Zoltan, 6, were asleep in the back seat.

The car was traveling between Biloxi, Mississippi, and New Orleans, and it ran into the rear of a tractor-trailer that had slowed down considerably from the speed limit because of an approaching truck that was flashing a red light due to spraying insecticides.

The crash sheared off the top of the car, but Hargitay, then 3 years old, and her brothers survived with minor injuries. All three adults in the front seat were killed instantly.

In June 2025, Hargitay will make her feature film directorial debut when her documentary about her mother, My Mom Jayne, premieres on HBO. The film follows Hargitay as she “seeks to know, understand, and embrace her mother for the first time,” according to the HBO press release about the film.

It continues, “Through intimate interviews and a collection of never-before-seen photos and home movies, she grapples with her mother’s public and private legacy and discovers the layers and depth of who Jayne was, not only to her audience but to those who were closest to her.”

HBO has not yet announced the exact premiere date for My Mom Jayne.