Mariska Hargitay Reveals Mickey Hargitay Died Denying He Wasn’t Her Biological Father
Mickey Hargitay may not have been Mariska Hargitay‘s biological father, but he was proud to be her dad until the very end.
In Mariska’s new documentary My Mom Jayne, the actress revealed that her actual father is singer Nelson Sardelli, despite being raised to believe she was Mickey’s daughter. The Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star opened up about the revelation on the Wednesday, June 25, episode of Alex Cooper‘s Call Her Daddy podcast, sharing that Mickey continued to deny the truth of her parentage until his death at age 80 in 2006.
“He used to say, even before he died, ‘Remember when you thought that crazy thing?’ and I go, ‘I know, wasn’t that nuts?’ she stated. “I went with it, and then I felt like I became the parent in a way, and I was grateful to be that.”
When asked if the actor-bodybuilder “genuinely thought” he was her father, Mariska said, “I don’t know. I’ll never know.”
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Tribeca Festival
She added, “He made a choice, and that was his new truth, and whether it’s true or not emotionally, it was his truth. And I’ll tell you something. I understand it because I have two adopted kids, and they are no different, no different than my biological son, no different, and so to me, I go, ‘I get it.’ It didn’t matter. It doesn’t matter.” (Mariska shares her children — August, 18, Amaya, 14, and Andrew, 13 — with husband Peter Hermann.)
My Mom Jayne, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival last month, follows Mariska as she explores the life and legacy of her late mother, Playboy Playmate and actress Jayne Mansfield. Mansfield was married to Mickey from 1958 to 1964, but she briefly dated Sardelli in 1963 amid the couple’s marriage troubles. She was later married to Matt Cimber before her death at age 34 in 1967.
On Call Her Daddy, Mariska recalled realizing Sardelli was her biological father during a visit to the home of the president of Mansfield’s fan club. “He says to me, ‘Do you want to see a picture of Nelson?'” she said. “And I just looked at him, and this jolt went through my body, and I said, ‘Who’s Nelson?’ and then I knew in one second.”
Mariska continued, “I saw the blood drain out of his face, and he sort of panicked and turned white, and then he said, you know, he panicked and he said, ‘Oh, it’s probably not true, it’s probably not true.’ And that’s when I knew, and I think that he couldn’t believe that I didn’t know. I was 25. How could I not know? And I understand that, and then, he says, ‘It’s not true. I’m sure it’s not true,’ and then he showed me his picture. On a cellular level, it was just like DNA talking to DNA, and I knew it was true.”
Following the visit, Mariska confronted Mickey about the news, which he immediately denied. “He kept saying, ‘You look like my father, you look exactly like my father. You’re a Hargitay to the end,’ and, you know, the irony is that I’m more like my dad than anyone in our whole family. I am mini Mickey, right?” she told Cooper.
“And so it was just a very extraordinarily painful moment, and I always say that this is the moment that I became an adult, and it’s so visceral for me because I was in so much pain. … I said, ‘It doesn’t matter what I feel. I love him and I’m not, we’re done here. We’re done here,'” she noted. “And so I said, ‘OK, thank you for telling me,’ and I pretended that I believed him and we never spoke of it again.”
My Mom Jayne, Friday, June 27, HBO & HBO Max
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I was adopted at 18 months.I always considered my adopted parents to be my real Mom and Dad and I always will. They brought me up,they loved me and they were always there for me. Before my Mom died she told me she would help me find my biological parents. I told her I was not interested. I know who my parents really are and they were the ones who raised me.
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I was adopted at 3 years old. The person who gave birth to me was a very confused and neglectful person. Putting herself first above my needs and welfare. The people who adopted me were my grandparents. They new from day 1 that I was in a dangerous situation. They raised me as their daughter and treated me as such until they both paat away in 1989 and 1991.
My sister told me stories about my upbringing and how in the first 3 years of my life I was slowly dying of neglect and malnutrition. Thats when my grandparents at the time stepped in. My sister would tell my how amazing it was to see me come back to life, so to speak.i was loved unconditionally and I would carry that love even to this day.
Unfortunately, my life was far from great. You see being adopted within the family came with some heartbreak.
Other than my sister and parents, no one else treated me the same. It has been very difficult for me to lead a productive life.
I had seen a therapist most of my life. I was diagnosed with major depression and BPD, then later on PTSD, Anxiety, and most recently ADHD. I was told that is was in my first three years that these conditions were brought on. After many unsuccessful suicide attempts and the enormous feelings of being worthless, helpless, & hopeless to those around me.
To summarize, it has been more difficult for me being adopted in the family than it would have been being adopted by strangers.
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does not matter,he raised and fed her most her life regardless.she is smart enough to know that.
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I watched the documentary yesterday, and it was well done. I cried with her through it, and understood it all at the end .I cried tears of joy with her when we she had closer of the truth. And gained two more siblings at that. Great documentary Mariska!
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Blood does not make a father: Love makes a father.
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