Miklós "Mickey" Hargitay (/ˈhɑrɡɨteɪ/; Hungarian: Hargitay Miklós [ˈhɒrgitɒi ˈmikloːʃ]; January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006) was a Hungarian-American actor and Mr. Universe 1955. Born in Budapest, Hungary, Hargitay moved to the United States in 1947, where he eventually became a citizen. He was married to Jayne Mansfield, and is 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).

Biographie

Hargitay's first marriage was to Mary Birge, with whom he had a daughter, Tina Hargitay (b. 1949). Hargitay and Birge divorced on September 6, 1956.

Hargitay and Jayne Mansfield met in 1956, when he was performing in The Mae West Show at the Latin Quarter. The couple married on January 13, 1958. They had three children: Miklós Jeffrey Palmer Hargitay (b. December 21, 1958), Zoltán Anthony Hargitay (b. August 1, 1960), and Mariska Magdolna Hargitay (b. January 23, 1964). Hargitay remodeled much of his and Mansfield's Beverly Hills mansion, known as "The Pink Palace", building its famous heart-shaped swimming pool. In November 2002, the house was razed by developers who had purchased it from Engelbert Humperdinck.

In May 1963, Hargitay and Mansfield filed for divorce in Juarez, Mexico. The divorce was ruled invalid, and the two reconciled in October 1963. After Mariska's birth, Mansfield sued for the Juarez 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 $5,000 to support the children. In their divorce decree, Mansfield had agreed to pay child support, as well as to give Hargitay approximately $70,000 in cash and property.

Hargitay married again in September 1967 to Ellen Siano. Siano and Hargitay remained married for 39 years, until his death.

Arnold Schwarzenegger played the role of Mickey Hargitay in the 1980 TV-movie The Jayne Mansfield Story.