Jayne Mansfield biography

American actress and sexual icon of the 1950s and 1960s. Born in Pennsylvania, she moved to Dallas, Texas after the death of her father, attended the University of Dallas, and participated in little theatre productions. She won small beauty contests (such as "Miss Magnesium Lamp"), and attended the University of Texas in Austin, taking drama classes. In 1954 she arrived in Los Angeles, where she studied acting at UCLA and worked in bit parts in television. She landed a small but sexy role in _Pete Kelly's Blues (1955), which led to roles which were more prominent in several ways. A job in the Broadway production of "Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?" brought her a good deal of attention for her scantily clad appearance therein, and she repeated the role in the film version. Her high- pitched squeal of delight and the studied ease with which she flaunted her pulchritude led to a succession of roles as sex kittens and dumb blonde bimbos. Although she occasionally appeared in films of some quality, and though she apparently aspired to respectability as an actress on occasion, her public persona was too extreme to be taken seriously, and she became a sort of poor man's Marilyn Monroe, though without the onscreen vulnerability and ability that Monroe possessed. By the 1960s, Mansfield's career had declined into one of cheesy sexploitation and jokey guest appearances. While traveling between nightclub engagements, she was killed in a highway accident in 1967, when the car in which she was riding slammed into a semi- tractor trailer truck.