- Mickey Hargitay
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Mickey Hargitay 
Mickey Hargitay on a magazine cover, 1955Born Miklós Hargitay
January 6, 1926
Budapest, HungaryDied September 14, 2006 (aged 80)
Los Angeles, California, U.S.Spouse Mary Birge (1948-1956)
Jayne Mansfield (1958-1964)
Ellen Siano (1967-2006)(his Death)Miklós "Mickey" Hargitay (January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006) was an actor and Mr. Universe 1955. Born in Budapest, Hungary, he was married to Jayne Mansfield, and the father of actress Mariska Hargitay. During their marriage, Hargitay and Mansfield made four movies together, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957), The Loves of Hercules (1960), Promises! Promises! (1963), and L'Amore Primitivo (1964).
Contents
Early life and sports career
Growing up in Hungary, he performed in an acrobatic act with his brothers. He also played soccer and became a champion speed skater.[1] An underground fighter during World War II, Hargitay fled Hungary after the war and moved to the United States. He settled in Cleveland, where he met and married his first wife, Mary Birge (with whom he also had an acrobatic act and one child, Tina, who was born in 1949), and worked as a plumber and carpenter. He was inspired to begin bodybuilding after seeing a magazine cover of Steve Reeves, famed for playing Hercules. He became NABBA Mr. Universe in 1955. After winning Mr. Universe, he joined Mae West's muscleman revue at New York's The Latin Quarter, where he met Jayne Mansfield, his wife from 1958 to 1964. He is the first recipient of the Joe Weider Lifetime Achievement Award. In May 2006, he received the Muscle Beach Hall of Fame Award from the Muscle Beach Historical Committee.
Acting career
Hargitay's first film role came when Jayne Mansfield demanded he be cast in her newest film, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). The two met the year before at The Mae West Show at the Latin Quarter. When Jayne noticed Mickey performing, she told the waiter, "I’ll have a steak and that tall man on the left."[2] The two fell head over heels in love and were never seen apart. 20th Century Fox didn't want Hargitay in Rock Hunter, because they hated that Mansfield saw Hargitay as her "only" lover. Fox liked their sex symbols single. But when Jayne told the studio that she would turn the film down, they gave in and allowed Hargitay to appear in a bit part.
In 1960, Jayne and Mickey would have the lead roles in The Loves of Hercules. The film was shot in Italy, and to this day hasn't been released in US movie theaters. Over the next few years Mickey and Jayne, together, would appear in, Promises! Promises! (1963) and L'Amore Primitivo (1964). In 1965, Mickey, only, would have the lead role in Bloody Pit of Horror. There was a part in the film written for Mansfield, but, the two divorced before filming on the feature began.
He also acted in Hungarian director György Szomjas' 1988 film, Mr. Universe.[3]
Hargitay's final acting appearance was in an episode of his daughter Mariska's series, Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. In the episode "Control", Hargitay played a man on a subway station escalator who witnesses the aftermath of a brutal assault. Mariska's character, Olivia Benson, is later seen interviewing him.
Personal life
His first marriage was to Mary Birge. Together they had a daughter Tina Hargitay (b. 1949). They divorced on September 6, 1956.
Hargitay and Mansfield married on January 13, 1958. They had three children: Miklós Jeffrey Palmer Hargitay (b. December, 21 1958), Zoltán Anthony Hargitay (b. August 1, 1960), Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (called Maria, b. January 23, 1964). Mickey Hargitay remodeled much of his and Mansfield's Beverly Hills mansion, "The Pink Palace",[4] building its famous heart-shaped swimming pool. In November 2002, the house was razed by developers. Its previous owner had been Engelbert Humperdinck.
In May 1963, they divorced in Juarez, Mexico. The divorce was ruled invalid, and the two reconciled in October 1963. After the birth of Mariska, Mansfield sued for the Juarez divorce to be declared legal and won. The divorce was recognised in the United States on August 26, 1964. After Mansfield's death in a car crash on June 29, 1967, Hargitay sued her estate for over $275,000 to support the children; in their divorce decree, she had agreed to pay child support and to give him approximately $70,000 in cash and property.
Hargitay married again in September 1967 to Ellen Siano, his wife until his death. Arnold Schwarzenegger played the role of Mickey Hargitay in the 1980 TV-movie The Jayne Mansfield Story. Hargitay's nephew and godson Eddie Hargitay is also an actor.
Death
He died in Los Angeles on September 14, 2006, aged 80, from multiple myeloma. The Los Angeles Times noted in Hargitay's obituary:[5]
“ "Walter Winchell once said that what [President] Eisenhower did for golf, Mickey Hargitay did for bodybuilding, because he brought it to the forefront," Gene Mozee, a bodybuilding historian and writer for Iron Man magazine, told The Times on Monday. "Back in those days, bodybuilding was thought of as a freakish, unusual activity that wasn't popular with the general public," Mozee said. "At that time, athletic coaches discouraged lifting weights, thinking you'd become muscle bound. And along came Mickey Hargitay, a great all-around athlete." ” Filmography
Year Movie Title Role Notes 1957 Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? Bobo Branigansky Film Debut; First Film with wife, Jayne Mansfield 1957 Slaughter on Tenth Avenue Big John 1960 The Loves of Hercules Hercules Co-starring Mansfield; Aka: Gli amori di Ercole (Italy; original title) 1963 Promises! Promises! King Banner Co-starring Mansfield 1964 L'Amore Primitivo Hotel Bell Captain Last film co-starring Mansfield; Aka: Primitive Love (US); not released in the US until 1966 1964 La vendetta dei gladiatori Fabius 1965 Uno straniero a Sacramento Mike Jordan Aka: Stranger in Sacramento (US) 1965 Sheriff Won't Shoot Allan 1965 Bloody Pit of Horror Travis Anderson Was to co-star with Mansfield, but the two divorced before filming began 1966 Three Graves for a Winchester Ringo Carson 1966 7 Golden Women Against Two 07 Mark Davis Aka: Sette donne d'oro contro due 07 (Italy; original title) 1967 Cjamango Clinton 1970 Ringo, It's Massacre Time Mike Wood 1971 Lady Frankenstein Captain Harris 1972 Delirio caldo Herbert Lyutak 1973 Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel trecento... Jack Nelson Final film appearance References and footnotes
- ^ Cohen, Sandy (September 19, 2006). "Actor Mickey Hargitay Dies at Age 80". Washingtonpost.com. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/18/AR2006091801193.html. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
- ^ Gene Mozee (February 2007). "Mickey Hargitay(In Memoriam)". Ironman Magazine. http://imbodybuilding.com/articles/mickey-hargitay/. Retrieved April 10, 2011.
- ^ "FilmVilág". Emir.hu. 1990-12-03. http://www.emir.hu/~filmvilag/xista_frame.php?&ev=2008&szam=03&cikk_id=5046. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
- ^ http://www.dianamystery.com/Jayne_pink_palace2.jpg Jayne Mansfield Pink Palace
- ^ McLellan, Dennis (2006-09-19). "Mickey Hargitay, 80; Bodybuilder Popularized the Sport - Los Angeles Times". Latimes.com. http://www.latimes.com/news/obituaries/la-me-hargitay19sep19,1,2377977.story?ctrack=1&cset=true. Retrieved 2011-07-28.
External links
- "Actor Mickey Hargitay dies at 80". BBC. 2006-09-19. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/5359188.stm. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
- Silverman, Stephen M. (2006-09-19). "Mariska's Dad Mickey Hargitay Dies at 80". People Magazine. http://www.people.com/people/article/0,26334,1536355,00.html. Retrieved 2006-12-20.
- "Mickey Hargitay, Father Of Mariska, Dies". Access Hollywood. 2006-09-18. Archived from the original on 2007-12-05. http://web.archive.org/web/20071205104244/http://www.accesshollywood.com/news/ah1639.shtml. Retrieved 2007-09-29.
Categories:- 1926 births
- 2006 deaths
- Hungarian emigrants to the United States
- American people of Hungarian descent
- Hungarian bodybuilders
- Deaths from multiple myeloma
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- People from Budapest
- Cancer deaths in California
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