Jayne Mansfield and Princess Diana

In 1967, Jayne Mansfield was killed in her mid-30's (34) in a car crash along with her boyfriend and their temporary driver for the night. ...

In 1997, Princess Diana was killed in her mid-30's (36) in a car crash along with her boyfriend and their temporary driver for the night. ...

Those were the only two car crashes ever in which the only people killed were a world-famous woman, her boyfriend and their driver. ...

Actress Jayne Mansfield and Princess Diana were victims of the only two car crashes in history in which the only three people killed were a world-famous woman, her boyfriend and their driver. ...

3 of the 6 people in Jayne Mansfield's car were killed. ... 

Princess Diana crashed at the age of 36. ...

3 of the 4 people in Princess Diana's car were killed. ...  

Jayne Mansfield crashed at the age of 34. ...

Jayne Mansfield crashed in America while heading to New Orleans, named after a city in France. ...

Diana crashed in France while heading to the Avenue de New York, named after a city in America. ... 

For actress Jayne Mansfield, stardom began by spoofing Marilyn Monroe in the Broadway play "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" ...  

"The Hollywood movie starlet had come to New York City to star on the Broadway stage in George Axelrod's spoof of Marilyn Monroe
  and the movie industry, WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?"

 - HOLLYWOOD STUDIO MAGAZINE.  James Robert Haspiel.  October 1977.  


"Jayne went to New York and auditioned for a role in an upcoming Broadway stage comedy, WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER? 
 The play's pivotal character was Rita Marlowe, a platinum blonde movie sex symbol; a thinly disguised surface burlesque of - who else?
  - Marilyn Monroe. ... Theater critics were unanimous in their praise of Broadway's new blonde.  Walter Winchell said, 'Jayne Mansfield
 is as beautiful as Marilyn Monroe in every department and effortlessly delivers the most devastating impression in years.' ... Her public
 image as a synthetic Monroe was to dominate the rest of Mansfield's professional life. ... The news of Jayne's existence spread nationwide
 when on two occasions she graced the cover of LIFE. ..."

 - FILMS IN REVIEW.  James Robert Haspiel and Charles Hirshberg.  June 1976.


"Miss Mansfield has burst dazzlingly upon the theatrical world as the star of a Broadway comedy titled WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?
 and currently seems to be getting her name and photograph into more Broadway columns and movie magazines than any other actress alive. 
 A number of Hollywood studios are bidding for her services and there seems to be a very good chance that she will someday become a full-fledged
 movie queen. ... Many have compared Miss Mansfield to Marilyn Monroe.  This is perhaps inevitable for in WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?
 she is cast as a rollicking caricature of a dumb blonde movie queen.  Moreover she just naturally has the same come-hither-you-brute sort of voice
 and look as Miss Monroe."

 - LIFE Magazine.  Ernest Havemann.  April 23, 1956.  


"Jayne's big break occurred in 1955 when she was chosen to play a satirization of a dumb blonde movie star in the Broadway play Will Success
 Spoil Rock Hunter?  Hollywood filmmakers who could not envision Jayne's potential as a movie star while she was in Los Angeles, clamored to
 make Jayne Mansfield their studio's new dumb blond movie star of 1956. ... Twentieth Century-Fox, which had been unable to distinguish Jayne
 from other talented hopefuls in 1954, now wanted Jayne as a 'Super Monroe' to replace their resident dumb blonde sex symbol Marilyn Monroe."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994.


"If there hadn't been a Marilyn Monroe there might never have been a Jayne Mansfield.  Jayne's very existence beckoned the comparison,
 and the moguls at 20th Century-Fox saw the possibility of creating a 'Super-Monroe' with Mansfield."

 - HOLLYWOOD STUDIO MAGAZINE.  James Haspiel.  October 1977. 


"Jayne Mansfield is getting the star treatment.  There's no doubt that when Jayne acts, walks and talks, you are reminded of Marilyn Monroe,
 regardless of the fact that Jayne gets your full attention, Jayne has become Marilyn Monroe, king-size."

 - PHOTOPLAY.  Sidney Skolsky.  August 1956.

After her first Hollywood contract was terminated, Jayne Mansfield won a leading role - spoofing Marilyn Monroe - in the Broadway play, "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" 
It was her parody of Marilyn Monroe that finally earned Jayne Mansfield her first national recognition (twice appearing on the cover of LIFE magazine) and second Hollywood contract. ...

Actress Jayne Mansfield gained stardom by spoofing Marilyn Monroe in a Broadway play, "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" ... 

On the cover of the souvenir program, Jayne Mansfield is alone, wearing no clothes, lying front-down, holding a telephone receiver. ...

Years later, Marilyn Monroe will be discovered to have died alone, wearing no clothes, lying front-down, holding a telephone receiver. ... 

"Marilyn Monroe, troubled beauty who failed to find happiness as Hollywood's brightest star, was discovered dead in her Brentwood home
 of an apparent overdose of sleeping pills Sunday.  The blonde 36-year-old actress was nude, lying face-down on her bed and clutching a
 telephone receiver in her hand." 

- LOS ANGELES TIMES.  August 6, 1962

On the cover of the only official souvenir program for "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" Jayne Mansfield is alone, wearing no clothes, lying front down, holding a telephone receiver.
Jayne Mansfield mimincs Marilyn Monroe in "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?"  Marilyn Monroe later died alone, wearing no clothes, lying front-down, holding a telephone receiver. ...

Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe appeared in the same photos on only one occasion - the New York premiere of the film, THE ROSE TATTOO. ...
    
Princess Diana was killed heading for the Avenue de New York and was then identified as a "rose" ("Goodbye England's rose") in her funeral song. ...

Princess Diana's funeral song, CANDLE IN THE WIND 1997, was a hasty rewrite of a song (CANDLE IN THE WIND) that is a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. ...   

At the New York premiere of THE ROSE TATTOO, Jayne Mansfield and Marilyn Monroe appear in the same photographs for the only time ever. ...

Princess Diana crashed heading for the Avenue de New York and is identified as a "rose" in her funeral song that is a rewrite of a tribute to Marilyn Monroe. ...

In Jayne Mansfield's era of Hollywood, popular film actresses were still routinely referred to as "movie queens." ...

To enhance her "movie queen" image, Jayne Mansfield bought a Hollywood mansion and transformed it into her legendary "Pink Palace." ...   

"I'll have to have a palace, of course.  I may not be a princess but I am a movie queen, and every queen should have a palace."
 - Jayne Mansfield

 - THE TRAGIC SECRET LIFE OF JAYNE MANSFIELD.  By Ray Strait.  1974. 


"As for being royal and having a royal palace, Mickey is a builder.   He can lathe and plaster and lay marble and he is going to
 build me a big palace in Hollywood."
 - Jayne Mansfield

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD: A Biography.  By May Mann.  1973.


"Jayne and Mickey returned home from their honeymoon to purchase the big, old, mansion on Sunset Blvd.  It was to become
 known as the Pink Palace."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD: A Biography.  By May Mann.  1973.


"Sitting back from a prominent corner on three acres of land, the property offered Jayne the palace grounds on which to set up
 her Hollywood monarchy."

 - THE TRAGIC SECRET LIFE OF JAYNE MANSFIELD.  By Ray Strait.  1974.


"Mickey Hargitay was also of great value to Jayne's drive to live like a movie queen. ... By Mickey doing this expensive work for
 Jayne, she was able to afford to rebuild the home into a beautiful setting for her movie queen image."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994.


"Her personal life out-rivaled any of the roles she played.  She lived in a 35-room pink mansion like the movie queens of silent days."

 - VARIETY.  Whitney Williams.  July 3, 1967. 


"A tourist bus loaded with sightseers slowed down on Sunset Blvd. ... The driver began his spiel into the mike ... 'At your left you see
 the famous Pink Palace of Miss Jayne Mansfield.' " 

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD: A Biography.  By May Mann.  1973.

The legendary "Pink Palace" of movie queen Jayne Mansfield. ... 

Jayne Mansfield's "Pink Palace" was equally famous for both its colour and for its outlandish heart-shaped decor. ... 

The hearts theme included Hollywood's first heart-shaped pool; heart-shaped bathtub; heart-shaped fireplace; heart-shaped furniture, etc. ...

"She also adopted the shape of a heart as her trademark ... making her fireplaces, bathtub, and pool heart-shaped."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994. 


"The theme of the house had become hearts.  Jayne's personal bathtub was shaped like a pink heart.  And so was
 the swimming pool.  ...  The story told about the heart-shaped decor of the house.  Jayne said she had 'wanted the
 toilet seats heart-shaped, but nature wouldn't cooperate.' "

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD: A Biography.  By May Mann.  1973.


"Her bathtub, swimming pool, bed and decorations all subsequently became heart-shaped, as did the dots over her I's." 

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD AND THE AMERICAN FIFTIES by Martha Saxton.  1975. 

Jayne Mansfield's second husband, Mickey Hargitay, built Hollywood's first heart-shaped pool and imbedded the message, "I love you Jaynie", in tile on the bottom. ...

In addition to the heartshaped pool, the "hearts" theme of Jayne Mansfield's "Pink Palace" included a heartshaped fireplace, heartshaped bathtub; and heartshaped furniture. ...

In keeping with the "hearts" theme that was her trademark, Jayne Mansfield is buried beneath a heart-shaped tombstone. ...

As you'd expect, Jayne Mansfield is buried beneath a heartshaped tombstone (Pen Argyl, Pennsylvania). ... 

Decades later, Princess Diana was nickname "queen of hearts" after the televised interview where she said,

"I'd like to be a queen of people's hearts, in people's hearts, but I don't see myself being queen of this country."
 - Princess Diana

- BBC-TV Panorama Interview broadcast November 20, 1995 

Princess Diana became "queen of hearts" after the televised interview where she expressed her wish to be a "queen of people's hearts." ...

It seems the only time any magazine cover ever identified Jayne Mansfield as a "queen of hearts" wasn't until ten years after her death. ... 

In October 1977, HOLLYWOOD STUDIO MAGAZINE had a mysterious front-page headline referring to a "best seller" that does not exist:


"Excerpts from the best seller JAYNE MANSFIELD QUEEN OF HEARTS"


There was never a book titled JAYNE MANSFIELD QUEEN OF HEARTS, so why is it referred to as a "best-seller" on the magazine cover? 

Within the magazine there is no further reference to Jayne Mansfield being a "Queen of Hearts" - not in the index, the article, nor elsewhere. ...

The article is, JAYNE MANSFIELD'S MOVIE STAR YEARS, and the author James R. Haspiel never published a book about Jayne Manfield. ...

The front-page headline refers to a so-called "best seller," JAYNE MANSFIELD QUEEN OF HEARTS, that never existed. 
Within the magazine, the term "queen of hearts" is never employed.  It's not used in the index nor in the article about Jayne. ...

The headline, JAYNE MANSFIELD QUEEN OF HEARTS, is only on the front-page. ...

The interior side of that front-page is an advertisement for PRINCESS CRUISES. ...

Meanwhile, both sides of the back-page are full-page ads for MERCEDES BENZ. ...

Years later, Diana "queen of hearts" is a "Princess" killed in a "MERCEDES BENZ." ...

The front-page has the headline, JAYNE MANSFIELD QUEEN OF HEARTS.  The interior side of the front-page carries a full page advertisement for PRINCESS CRUISES. ...

Both the interior and exterior sides of the back page are advertisements for MERCEDES BENZ.  "Princess" Diana, "queen of hearts," will be killed in a "Mercedes Benz." ...

The pinnacle of Jayne Mansfield's brief reign as a Hollywood movie queen was her portrayal of a fictional Hollywood movie queen, Rita Marlowe. ... 

Jayne Mansfield played Rita Marlowe in the 1957 film version of "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" loosely based on the Broadway play. ...

Jayne Mansfield's Hollywood career peaked in 1957 with the film version of "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" loosely based on the Broadway play in which Jayne first played her signature role, Rita Marlowe. ... 

After starring in the 1957 film version of "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" Jayne Mansfield's career went into freefall. ...

"Jayne became a major Broadway star in 1955, a major movie star in 1956, the darling of the movie community in 1957, and a box-office has-been in 1958."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994.


"By 1959, Twentieth Century-Fox no longer viewed Jayne as Hollywood star material and for the duration of her contract relegated her first to loan-outs for
 English movies and then later for Italian movies. ... Jayne knew that these loan-outs were a severe setback for her career and resisted them but then relented
 when Twentieth Century-Fox threatened to suspend her."
 
 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994.

After her shining performance in the 1957 film, "WILL SUCCESS SPOIL ROCK HUNTER?" Jayne Mansfield's acting career quickly faded. ...

The reason for Jayne Mansfield's rapid Hollywood downfall was obvious to everyone but Jayne. ...

"Jayne had everything - beauty, talent, and drive - but she blew her career at Fox with too much publicity.  No one could get through to her that she was
 hurting herself with this constant barrage of daily publicity in the papers and press.  She would call her own press conferences for the most minute detail
 or happening.  The photographers would turn out in droves to photograph Jayne, scantily attired as they knew she would be.  They could always sell the
 photos of Jayne's cleavage somewhere."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD: A Biography.  By May Mann.  1973.


"The fact is that Jayne is publicity crazy.  She'll do anything for a free run in the press. ...  In all of Hollywood's history, never has there been such a champion
 flesh-peddler."

 - HOW JAYNE MANSFIELD PEDDLES HER WARES.  THE LOWDOWN Magazine.  November 1957.


"Poor Jayne.  Here was a girl who had real comedy talent, spectacular figure and looks and yet ridiculed herself out of the business by outlandish publicity. 
 If she had cooled it once she made herself an international celebrity, she'd probably be alive and a star today."

- THE LOS ANGELES HERALD-EXAMINER: JAYNE MANSFIELD'S HAUNT.  August 21, 1973. 


"To foster the press' attention, Mansfield would often bare her size 40D breasts, seemingly by accident. ... She had her bra and dress straps specially engineered
 to suddenly break, thereby exposing her breasts at crucial opportunities for publicity." 

 - THE SEX GODDESS IN AMERICAN FILM, 1930-1965.  Jessica Hope Jordan.  2009.


"Jayne's style became vulgar and unseemly ... exceeded the bounds of good taste ... Jayne became a cultural no-no."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD AND THE AMERICAN FIFTIES by Martha Saxton.  1975. 


"She should have stressed her acting and not her personality.  She had talent but after all her tomfoolerly no one would buy her."
 - Bill Shiffrin (Jayne Mansfield's agent)

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD AND THE AMERICAN FIFTIES by Martha Saxton.  1975. 


"Jayne became so obsessed with publicity that she did practically anything - good or bad - to be in the newspaper.  Said one studio publicist on Jayne's return to
 Hollywood:  'It's become her whole life. ...  The truth is Jayne is on such a merry-go-round of publicity, I doubt if she can stop.  I really think Jayne would feel headed
 for oblivion if she weren't in there pitching every moment of every day.' "

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994. 

Jayne Mansfield's sussessful pursuit of publicity backfired.  Over-exposure ruined her Hollywood career. ...

There was a time when Jayne Mansfield was arguably the most photographed, most publicized woman in the world: 

"... she promptly huddled with her three advisors and then launched a one-woman press-saturation campaing that may be unequaled in the history of show business. 
 Accurate statistics are not available but Mr. Byron estimates that Miss Mansfield got her picture in local and out-of-town newspapers and magazines no fewer than
 36,000 times from the summer of 1955 to September, 1956.  Mansfield wordage ran to thousands of pounds of newsprint at at time of world crisis.  No press agent or
 photographer with any kind of exploitation outlet was turned from Miss Mansfield's door; she was "Miss Negligee," "Miss Tomato," "Miss Direct Mail," and some eighty
 other "Misses," one right after another.  Even photographers with no outlets at all were welcome to blaze away at Miss Mansfield." 

 - THE SATURDAY EVENING POST.  June 1, 1957. 


"Between September 1956 and May 1957, Jayne appeared in approximately 2500 newspaper photographs and had nearly 122,000 lines of newspaper copy written about
 her. ... Several Hollywood publicity experts labeled Miss Mansfield as the greatest publicity agent who ever lived." 

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994. 


"In 1960, she topped all press polls for more words in print about her than anyone else in the world. ... She created instant news, daily - everything from dresses falling off,
 clothes that burst at the seams strategically in the presence of cameras, to well-planned, fictional plots that would make headlines.  Jayne planned and plotted her
 peccadilloes as adroitly as any playwright. ... No effort was too much for Jayne if it spelled her name right!  Bids for Jayne's appearances came from all parts of the world. ...
 The walls of her home were decorated with 500 magazine covers.  'Here I am,' Jayne chortled, "on the covers of magazines in London, Paris, and Rome and look, I'm even
 very big in Istanbul."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD: A Biography.  By May Mann.  1973.


"Jayne Mansfield has busted a few records of her own.  She has posed for more publicity stills than any other woman alive."

- CAPER Magazine.  January 1957.  


"Hardly a day goes by without Jayne Mansfield's picture appearing in print." 

- PHOTOPLAY Magazine.  March 1957. 


"Jayne Mansfield, ... was a familiar person whose likeness is still recognized by most persons in the United States, even though few have seen her movies. 
 This phenomenon was summed up quite succinctly in a Mansfield obituary, 'One sees Miss Mansfield's photo everywhere except on the movie screen.' "

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994. 


"Jayne's career as a major movie star was so brief that she would not have obtained the cult status she enjoys today had it not been for the deluge of
 photos and news stories she generated for herself during her lifetime."

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD - A BIO-BIBLIOGRAPHY by Jocelyn Faris.  Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts, Number 60.  1994. 

In her "Pink Palace" the walls were lined with magazine covers featuring Jayne Mansfield's image.  She was arguably the most-photographed, most-publicized, woman in the world. ...

Decades later, Princess Diana uncomfortably found herself in a position similar to the one savored by Jayne Mansfield:

"Diana was 'The Most Photographed Woman in the World' and 'The Most Famous Woman in the World.' "

- DIANA ONE YEAR ON.  THE MAKING OF AN ICON.  BBC Online Network.  Jackie Long. 


"Ten years after her death, Diana, the Princess of Wales, remains as fascinating today as when she was the most photographed woman in the world."

- PEOPLE Magazine Online

Even more than Jayne Mansfield, Princess Diana was arguably the most photographed, most publicized, woman in the world. ...

Jayne Mansfield was killed in a car crash while pursuing publicity: 

"It's ironic that Jayne Mansfield - who spent most of her life seeking big publicity - died while seeking publicity
 simply through a minor TV interview on a local New Orleans station."

- JAYNE MANSFIELD'S TRAGIC LIFE AND DEATH.  MOTION PICTURE Magazine.  September 1967. 

Princess Diana was killed in a car crash while avoiding publicity:

"When the driver attempts to shake the paparazzi in pursuit of Princess Diana, the world's most photographed woman,
 her Mercedes speeds fatally out of control." 

 - CBC Digital Archives.  1997: Diana, Princess of Wales, dies in Paris. 

There have only been two car crashes ever in which the only people killed were a world-famous woman, her boyfriend and their driver. ...

The two world-famous women killed were actress Jayne Mansfield and Diana, a "Princess." ... 

In Jayne Mansfield's last letter, written on the eve of her fatal crash, the final word Jayne wrote preceeding her signature was, "Princess." ...

"Princess" was a cat owned by Jayne's best friend, author May Mann, who wrote about Jayne's letter, in her biography of Jayne Mansfield:

"In shock and heartbreak I refused to see anyone.  The next day a letter arrived from Jayne, postmarked Biloxi, mail stamped at 12:30 a.m. 
 She'd mailed it that night on the way to New Orleans.  In Jayne's inimitable handwriting, with all "i's" dotted with hearts, it read:

June 28, 1967

Dear May,

A great story!  Once again you've proven yourself as not only a great writer but a wonderful friend!

Doing record business down here.  I'm wearing the two new ribbon sets you presented to me. 

Samuel sends his love.  He can't swim because of his broken leg, but I've been making the silver and gold lame bikini scene by the pool. 
We have Miklos, Zoltan, and Maria with us + four chihuahuas. 

Love you and Princess,

Jayne

 - JAYNE MANSFIELD: A Biography.  By May Mann.  1973. 

There seem to be only two photographs ever published showing Jayne Mansfield with her friend May Mann's cat, Princess. ...

Both photos are in what seems to be the only magazine with a front-page identifying Jayne Mansfield as a "queen of hearts." ... 

As demonstrated earlier (above), the interior side of the magazine's front-page is a full-page advertisement for PRINCESS CRUISES. ...

Both sides of the back-page carry full page advertisements for the car in which "Princess" Diana will be killed: MERCEDES BENZ. 

It seems the only published photos of Jayne Mansfield with "Princess" the cat are the two published in what seems to be the only magazine with a front-page headline identifying Jayne Mansfield as a "queen of hearts." ...

The headline "JAYNE MANSFIELD QUEEN OF HEARTS" is on the front-page.  The interior side of the front-page is an ad for "PRINCESS CRUISES." ... 

Both sides of the back-page carry full-page advertisements for "MERCEDES BENZ" - the brand of car in which "Princess" Diana "queen of hearts" will be killed. 

Continue with: Jayne Mansfield and The Beatles  

THE DIANA-MORRISSEY PHENOMENON