In a deeply personal revelation, Emmy-winning actress Mariska Hargitay has opened up about a long-held family secret in her new HBO documentary, “My Mom Jayne”. The Law & Order: SVU star discloses that Nelson Sardelli, an Italian singer and entertainer, is her biological father—not Mickey Hargitay, the man she grew up believing was her dad.
The documentary, which centers on her late mother, Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield, delves into Mansfield’s glamorous but tragic life. But one of the most jaw-dropping moments comes when Mariska shares how she discovered the truth about her own paternity decades after her mother’s untimely death.
“For most of my life, I believed Mickey Hargitay was my father,” Mariska says in the film. “It wasn’t until I noticed a striking resemblance with Nelson Sardelli and began asking questions that everything started to shift.”
After confronting Mickey about her suspicions in her early thirties, Mariska says he candidly admitted that he was not her biological father. The revelation rocked her world, but she chose to keep it private—until now.
“I didn’t speak about it publicly because I didn’t want to hurt the man who raised me and loved me unconditionally,” she explains in the documentary. “He was my dad in every way that matters.”
Mickey Hargitay, a Hungarian-born bodybuilder and actor, was married to Jayne Mansfield from 1958 until their divorce in 1964. Mariska was just three years old when her mother died in a car crash in 1967.
Though Nelson Sardelli never publicly acknowledged Mariska as his daughter, the documentary reveals they shared a respectful but distant relationship later in life. “He wasn’t in my life the way Mickey was, but I don’t carry bitterness,” she says. “Just a desire for truth and understanding.”
My Mom Jayne is set to premiere on HBO Max on June 27, and is already generating significant buzz for its intimate, behind-the-scenes look at one of Hollywood’s most tragic families—and a daughter’s lifelong journey for identity.