Mickey Hargitay
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Miklós Károly "Mickey" HargitayTemplate:Efn (January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006) was a Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder.<ref name=lat>Template:Cite news</ref>
Born in Budapest, Hargitay emigrated as a young man of 21 to the United States in 1947. Known as "Mickey", he eventually became a naturalized American citizen. He became known as a competitive bodybuilder, helping popularize the sport and winning Mr. Universe in 1955. His bodybuilding gave him an entree to acting.<ref name="citizen">Template:Cite journal</ref>
In 1958, Hargitay married actress Jayne Mansfield. 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 Primitive Love (1964). The couple were estranged by the time Mansfield gave birth to actress Mariska Hargitay in 1964. Mariska believed herself to be Hargitay's daughter before learning at age 25 that her biological father was singer Nelson Sardelli.
Early life and early career
Miklós Károly Hargitay was born in Budapest, Kingdom of Hungary (present-day, Hungary) on January 6, 1926. His parents were Ferenc Hargitay and Mária Hargitay (née Rothsischer).<ref name="auto">Template:Cite news</ref> Hargitay was one of four children of an athletic father.
He and his brothers were all brought up as athletes. During his youth, Hargitay was part of an acrobatic act with his brothers. The act was so popular that the brothers performed throughout Hungary, including the largest opera house in Budapest.
After being introduced to speed skating by his brother, Hargitay began competing in meets. In 1946, he won the Middle European championship at 500 and 1,500 meters, and placed second in the 5,000 meter race.<ref name="citizen" /><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> He was also a proficient football player.<ref name=lat /><ref name="independent" /> He drew on his athleticism as an underground fighter during World War II.<ref name="independent" /><ref name="guardian">Template:Cite web</ref>
In 1947, aged 21, Hargitay emigrated from Hungary to the United States<ref name="auto"/> to avoid being drafted into military service by the Soviet Union.<ref name="auto1">Template:Cite news</ref> The Hungarian People's Republic was then part of the Eastern Bloc, with close ties to communist Russia.
Hargitay settled in Indianapolis, where he worked as a plumber and carpenter. He also performed in an acrobatic act with his first wife, Mary Birge.<ref name="independent" /> He was inspired to begin bodybuilding after seeing a magazine cover featuring Steve Reeves.<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> Hargitay won the National Amateur Body-Builders' Association (NABBA) Mr. Universe award in 1955.<ref name="guardian" />
Hargitay is credited with influencing the enormous interest in physical fitness prevalent in the US during the 1950s. He appeared as a pin-up model in fitness magazines.<ref name="independent" /> After Mae West saw his photo on a magazine cover, she recruited Hargitay for her muscleman revue.<ref name="guardian" />
Acting career
Hargitay's first film role came when Jayne Mansfield demanded that he be cast in her movie, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957).<ref name="auto2">Template:Cite journal</ref> The two fell in love and were described as inseparable. 20th Century Fox did not want Hargitay to appear in Rock Hunter because they disliked Mansfield's view of Hargitay as her "only" lover; Fox preferred their sex symbols to be single.Template:Cn
In 1960, Hargitay and Mansfield played the lead roles in The Loves of Hercules.<ref name="auto1" /> The film was shot in Italy, and has never been released in movie theaters in the United States, though it is available on Netflix under the title Hercules vs. Hydra and under its original title as episode 1108 of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (2017).Template:Cn Over the next four years, Hargitay and Mansfield would appear together in Promises! Promises! (1963) and Primitive Love (1964). In 1965, Hargitay played the lead role in Bloody Pit of Horror without Mansfield.<ref name="independent" />
Hargitay's acting career was not limited to the United States; he also appeared in many Italian productions,<ref name="guardian" /> and acted in Hungarian director György Szomjas' 1988 film, Mr. Universe.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In 2003, Hargitay guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit. He performed as a witness to a violent crime.<ref name="auto1"/> Template:Clear
Personal life
Template:Multiple image Hargitay's first wife was fellow acrobat Mary Birge. Hargitay had a daughter with Birge.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Hargitay and Birge later divorced.<ref name="auto1"/>
Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield met in 1956 while he was performing in The Mae West Show at the Latin Quarter. When Mansfield noticed Hargitay performing, she allegedly told the waiter, "I'll have a steak and that tall man on the left."<ref name="auto2"/> The couple married on January 13, 1958 at the Wayfarers Chapel in Rancho Palos Verdes, California. They had two sons. Jayne also had a daughter named Mariska Hargitay, who stars on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit.<ref name="auto" /> Hargitay remodeled much of his and Mansfield's Beverly Hills mansion, known as "The Pink Palace",<ref>Template:Cite web Jayne Mansfield Pink Palace</ref> building its famous heart-shaped swimming pool. In November 2002, the house was razed by developers who had purchased it from Engelbert Humperdinck.Template:Cn
In May 2025, Mariska Hargitay confirmed that singer-comedian Nelson Sardelli was her biological father, although she had believed Mickey Hargitay to be her biological father until she was 25.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> Despite learning that he was not her biological father, Mariska still remained loyal to Mickey.<ref>Template:Cite magazine</ref>
In May 1963, Hargitay and Mansfield filed for divorce in Ciudad Juárez. The divorce was ruled invalid, and the two reconciled in October 1963. After Mariska's birth, Mansfield sued for the Juárez divorce to be declared legal and ultimately won. The divorce was recognized in the United States on August 26, 1964. After Mansfield's death in a car crash on June 29, 1967, Hargitay sued Mansfield's estate for over US$275,000 ($Template:Format price in Template:Inflation/yearTemplate:Inflation-fn) to support the children. In their divorce decree, Mansfield had agreed to pay child support, as well as to give Hargitay approximately $70,000 ($Template:Format price in Template:Inflation/yearTemplate:Inflation-fn) in cash and property.Template:Cn
Hargitay married Ellen Siano on April 14, 1968. They remained married until his death.<ref name="independent">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="auto" /><ref name="auto1"/>
Death
On September 14, 2006, Hargitay died in Los Angeles, California, aged 80, from multiple myeloma. In Hargitay's obituary, the Los Angeles Times quoted bodybuilding historian Gene Mozee as stating: "Walter Winchell once said that what [President] Eisenhower did for golf, Mickey Hargitay did for bodybuilding, because he brought it to the forefront... Back in those days, bodybuilding was thought of as a freakish, unusual activity that wasn't popular with the general public... At that time, athletic coaches discouraged lifting weights, thinking you'd become musclebound. And along came Mickey Hargitay, a great all-around athlete".<ref name=lat/>
In popular culture
Hargitay was portrayed by Arnold Schwarzenegger in the 1980 television film The Jayne Mansfield Story.<ref name="guardian" />
Filmography
Film
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? | Bobo Branigansky |
| 1957 | Slaughter on Tenth Avenue | Big John |
| 1960 | The Loves of Hercules | Hercules |
| 1963 | Promises! Promises! | King Banner |
| 1964 | Primitive Love | Hotel Bell Captain |
| 1964 | Revenge of The Gladiators | Fabius |
| 1965 | Stranger in Sacramento | Mike Jordan |
| 1965 | Sheriff Won't Shoot | Allan Day |
| 1965 | Bloody Pit of Horror | Travis Anderson |
| 1966 | Three Bullets for Ringo | Ringo Carson |
| 1966 | Sette donne d'oro contro due 07 | Mark Davis |
| 1967 | Cjamango | Clinton |
| 1970 | Ringo, It's Massacre Time | Mike Wood |
| 1971 | Lady Frankenstein | Captain Harris |
| 1972 | Delirium | Herbert Lyutak |
| 1973 | Black Magic Rites | Jack Nelson |
| 2001 | Szemétdomb | Mickey |
Television
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | The Wild Wild West | Monk | Episode: "The Night of the Fugitives" |
| 1972 | Cool Million | Frederick | Episode: "Mask of Marcella" |
| 2003 | Law & Order: Special Victims Unit | Grandfather on escalator | Episode: "Control"; final appearance |
Notes
References and footnotes
External links
- 1926 births
- 2006 deaths
- Hungarian emigrants to the United States
- Hungarian male bodybuilders
- Deaths from multiple myeloma in California
- Deaths from bone cancer in California
- 20th-century American male actors
- 21st-century American male actors
- Male actors from Budapest
- Hungarian resistance members
- American male film actors
- American male television actors
- Naturalized citizens of the United States
- People associated with physical culture
- Jayne Mansfield