Jayne Mansfield’s Life Through Archive Photos

Jayne Mansfield was an American actress, singer, and entertainer during the 50s and 60s. She led a highly publicized life and would appear in newspapers on a regular basis. They would even publish her body measurements. She was one of the iconic blond bombshells along with Marilyn Monroe and Betty Grable. Her signature platinum blonde hair and shining white smile were huge staples of the Jayne Mansfield brand. She grew up in a family with many artistic interests, her dad was an attorney turned musician. She was trained in piano, violin and five languages from an early age. She had a keen interest in acting and had always dreamed of becoming a famous actress.

Her career in the movie industry was short lived but she definitely made an impact during her time in the entertainment industry. Jayne’s personal life was also closely followed by the media, they covered her three marriages, the birth of her children, the allegations of infidelity and her famous “wardrobe malfunctions”.

Meet Jayne Mansfield

Vera Jayne Palmer, also known as Jayne Mansfield was born on April 19th, 1933 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania. Her family moved to Dallas, Texas when she turned three years of age. She was the only child of Herbert William Palmer, an attorney turned musician, and Vera Jeffrey Palmer.

By the time she was seven, she was proficient in violin and by the time she turned twelve, Mansfield took ballroom dance lessons, piano and viola lessons.

Unapologetically Intelligent

Along with Marily Monroe, Jayne Mansfield was given the title of the stereotypical “dumb blonde” bombshell by Hollywood producers during the 50s and 60s, but she was far from that. She was intellectually gifted as well as talented and beautiful.

The actress possessed an I.Q. of 163 and spoke five languages including English, Spanish, German, French and Italian. She was already an accomplished young woman by the time she broke into the film industry.

A Trip to Hollywood

Jayne’s mother, a former schoolteacher, took thirteen year old Jayne on a trip to Hollywood for some mother-daughter time. They visited the Hollywood Brown Derby and Mansfield even got to meet one of her favorite national radio stars.

When she got his autograph, she realized that she too wanted to be a star and have people ask for her autograph. Little did she know, a few years later she would find her way to stardom.

Paul Mansfield

Jayne met Paul Mansfield when she was sixteen years old at a Christmas Eve party in 1949. Both of them were popular students who attended Highland Park High School in Dallas, they were a match made in heaven.

They tied the knot when Jayne was seventeen and Paul was twenty years old, she was three months pregnant with her first daughter Jayne Marie Mansfield. They also both enrolled in Southern Methodist University to study acting.