Jayne Mansfield

Who was Jayne Mansfield?

Jayne Mansfield was an American actress in film, theatre, and television, a nightclub entertainer, a singer, and one of the early Playboy Playmates. She was a major Hollywood sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s. Mansfield was 20th Century Fox's alternative to Marilyn Monroe and came to be known as the Working Man's Monroe. She was also known for her well-publicized personal life and publicity stunts, such as wardrobe malfunctions.

Mansfield became a major Broadway star in 1955, a major Hollywood star in 1956, and a leading celebrity in 1957. She was one of Hollywood's original blonde bombshells, and although many people have never seen her movies, Mansfield remains one of the most recognizable icons of 1950s celebrity culture. With the decrease of the demand for big-breasted blonde bombshells and the increase in the negative backlash against her over-publicity, she became a box-office has-been by the early 1960s.

While Mansfield's film career was short-lived, she had several box office successes and won a Theatre World Award and a Golden Globe. She enjoyed success in the role of fictional actress Rita Marlowe, both in the 1955–56 Broadway version and the 1957 Hollywood film version of Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter?. She showcased her comedic skills in The Girl Can't Help It, her dramatic assets in The Wayward Bus, and her sizzling presence in Too Hot to Handle. She also sang for studio recordings, including the album Shakespeare, Tchaikovsky & Me and the single As the Clouds Drift By. Mansfield's notable television work included television dramas Follow the Sun and Burke's Law, game shows The Match Game and What's My Line?, variety shows The Jack Benny Program and The Bob Hope Show, the The Ed Sullivan Show, and a large number of talk shows.