Mariska Hargitay became a television icon by playing Detective Olivia Benson on Law & Order: SVU since 1999. The gritty performance on the police procedural even earned her a 2006 Emmy for Outstanding Actress. Before hitting it big with the beloved series, Mariska worked her way up the Tinseltown ladder with small roles in horror movies and a few recurring ones on shows like Falcon Crest and Downtown.
Mariska’s Hollywood roots, however, don’t stop there, as she is the daughter of famous folks. Her mother, Jayne Mansfield, was one of the first blonde bombshells to take over the big screen, while her father, Mickey Hargitay, parlayed his fame as a former Mr. Universe into a successful acting career. The couple had married in 1958 and welcomed three children: sons Miklós and Zoltán, and daughter Mariska. In 1963, they divorced and quickly reconciled, only to officially split a year later. In May 2025, Mariska revealed that Mickey wasn’t her biological father. It turns out that during her parents’ split, Jayne had a brief affair with singer and comedian Nelson Sardelli, and he is Mariska’s biological father, the actress told Vanity Fair.
Learn more about Mariska’s parents below.
Born in Hungary in January 1926, Mickey began performing in an acrobatic act with his four brothers at a young age, eventually taking the act to the largest opera house in Budapest, according to NBC. He eventually made his way to America and settled down in Cleveland, Ohio where his bodybuilding dreams began to take shape. “Mickey trained hard throughout the ’50s, winning several local “body beautiful” competitions,” per the outlet. By 1955, Mickey was ready to take the title of Mr. Universe.
The bodybuilder’s championship inspired a generation to take up the sport. “Bodybuilding was dominated by American champions; there was no hope for anyone else,” Arnold Schwarzenegger told the L.A. Times. “That someone from central Europe became Mr. Universe gave hope for someone like myself and others to dream about.”
“Back in those days, bodybuilding was thought of as a freakish, unusual activity that wasn’t popular with the general public,” Gene Mozee, a bodybuilding historian, told the outlet. “At that time, athletic coaches discouraged lifting weights, thinking you’d become muscle bound. And along came Mickey Hargitay, a great all-around athlete.”
Mickey then found work as a muscleman in Mae West’s nightclub act, the Mae West Revue, in 1956. According to the L.A. Times, Jayne caught the act in a New York club and when she was asked what she would like that evening, she reportedly responded: “I’ll have a steak and the man on the left!” Mickey and Jayne would marry two years later.
