Mariska Hargitay is best known as a mainstay in the popular crime drama Law & Order. She has portrayed Olivia Benson on the show since 1999. The actress recently directed a film called ‘My Mom Jayne,’ which reveals details about a tragic car crash she survived when she was just three years old.
According to a report by the Daily Mail, Hargitay, 61, premiered her movie at the Tribeca Festival last week. It’s an annual film festival held in New York and the event was co-founded by Robert De-Niro. Per People, Mariska’s siblings recall the devastating car crash, which ultimately claimed the life of their mother, Jayne Mansfield, in 1967. The outlet explains that during the movie, Zoltan, one of Mariska’s siblings, recalls being taken to safety after the incident. He explains that he thought he saw his mom in the front seat and suddenly realized it wasn’t her. As he looked around the car, he noticed Mariska wasn’t there. At that point, the adults driving the vehicle realized they had left her at the scene of the wreck.
Ellen Hargitay, Mariska’s stepmom, reportedly explains that the adults returned to the car and found the three-year-old stuck under the passenger seat. She suffered a head injury.
Hargitay Makes Another Revelation During The Documentary
According to People, Mariska also reveals that her biological father is a man named Nelson Sardelli. Mickey Hargitay, her brother’s father, raised her alongside the boys. Several of Mariska’s siblings attended the Tribeca Festival premiere, as did Sardelli, who is in his nineties.
The actress told the outlet, “This is my story to tell. I had a rough time with the fact that somebody else told it before I did, and that was the impetus of the movie — that I wanted to tell my story.” Back in 2021, the Law & Order star told Glamour, “I think I learned about crisis very young, and I learned very young that **** happens and there’s no guarantees, and we keep going. And then we transform it.” She added, “My life has been a process of unpeeling the layers and trust and trusting again.”