Mariska Hargitay Honors Her Late Mother Jayne Mansfield in Deeply Personal HBO Documentary ‘My Mom Jayne’

Mariska Harigitay has spent decades solving made-for-TV mysteries. Now, she’s turning to her own. The “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star will tackle the story of her late mother, actress Jayne Mansfield, in “My Mom Jayne,” a new documentary from HBO.

The film combines rare home videos, photographs and interviews as Hargitay shows her mother’s private life. While the public knew Mansfield as the blond bombshell in pink, Hargitay hopes viewers will meet someone adored by fans and deeply loved by those closest to her.

“This movie is a labor of love and longing,” says Mariska, 61, who’s played Detective Olivia Benson for 26 years. “It’s a search for the mother I never knew, an integration of a part of myself I’d never owned, and a reclaiming of my mother’s story and my own truth.”

Jayne was 34 when she died in a crash in 1967, after the car she was riding in slammed into the back of a semi-truck on a Louisiana highway. Mariska was one of the three children sleeping in the backseat, who were unharmed in the crash.