''The Jayne Mansfield Story'' is a 1980 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made fo ...

biographical A biography, or simply bio, is a detailed description of a person's life. It involves more than just the basic facts like education, work, relationships, and death; it portrays a person's experience of these life events. Unlike a profile or c ...

drama film In film and television, drama is a category or genre of narrative fiction (or semi-fiction) intended to be more serious than humorous in tone. Drama of this kind is usually qualified with additional terms that specify its particular super ...

directed by

Dick Lowry Dick Lowry (born 15 September 1944 in Oklahoma) is an American director and film producer. Productions List films were all made for television unless otherwise indicated. *1975: ''The Drought (film), The Drought'' (theatrical film) *1980: '' ...

starring

Loni Anderson Loni Kaye Anderson (born August 5, 1945) is an American actress who played receptionist Jennifer Marlowe on the CBS sitcom ''WKRP in Cincinnati'' (1978–1982), which earned her three Golden Globe Awards and two Emmy Award nominations. Early ...

as the actress, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as her bodybuilder husband, based on the life of

Jayne Mansfield Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, singer, nightclub entertainer, and ''Playboy'' Playmate. A sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s while under contract at 20th Century Fox, Man ...

. The film was originally titled ''Jayne Mansfield: A Symbol of the '50s''. The script is based on the book ''Jayne Mansfield and the American Fifties'' by

Martha Saxton Martha Saxton is an American professor of history and women's and gender studies at Amherst College who has authored several prominent historical biographies. Life She graduated from Columbia University, and University of Chicago. She taught at ...

. It originally aired on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...

on October 29, 1980. The film is listed in Golden Raspberry Award founder John Wilson's book '' The Official Razzie Movie Guide'' as one of The 100 Most Enjoyably Bad Movies Ever Made.

Plot

The film tells the fictionalized rise and fall of Hollywood bombshell and sex symbol

. ''The Jayne Mansfield Story'' opens in 1967 in Mississippi with Jayne Mansfield closing a show and then talking on a payphone with

Mickey Hargitay Mickey Hargitay (January 6, 1926 – September 14, 2006), born Miklós Karoly Hargitay, was a Hungarian-American actor and the 1955 Mr. Universe. Born in Budapest, Hargitay moved to the United States in 1947 and eventually became a U.S. citi ...

about going on a new tour together. Intercut with scenes of Mansfield getting into a car and then crashing when the driver tries to overtake a spray truck is film of a

teleprinter A teleprinter (teletypewriter, teletype or TTY) is an electromechanical device that can be used to send and receive typed messages through various communications channels, in both point-to-point and point-to-multipoint configurations. Init ...

typing out the news of Mansfield's death. An announcer reads the text over both scenes. The film then goes to credits, intercut with still images of Mansfield as a child and young woman. The next scene is of an unnamed woman interviewing Hargitay about Mansfield (Hargitay's graying hair indicates that this is some time after her death). Hargitay shows her photos including one where a dark-haired Mansfield poses with a chimpanzee as a publicity stunt to promote a film premiere at the theater where she worked as a popcorn salesperson. (Hargitay narrates throughout the rest of the film). At a scene from the theater and at home Mansfield expresses her desire to act in films and she is shown as a single mother, taking care of her only daughter Jayne Marie after the father left because he disagreed with her acting ambition. In the next scene Mansfield approaches

talent agent A talent agent, or booking agent, is a person who finds jobs for actors, authors, broadcast journalists, film directors, musicians, models, professional athletes, screenwriters, writers, and other professionals in various entertainment or sp ...

Bob Garrett on the street (whom she met, off-screen, at the premiere). She manages to convince Garrett to give her an

audition An audition is a sample performance by an actor, singer, musician, dancer or other performer. It typically involves the performer displaying their talent through a previously memorized and rehearsed solo piece or by performing a work or piece giv ...

for a one line part in a film after pushing her chest out and declaring that she has something more than

Marilyn Monroe Marilyn Monroe (; born Norma Jeane Mortenson; 1 June 1926 4 August 1962) was an American actress. Famous for playing comedic " blonde bombshell" characters, she became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s, as wel ...

. At the audition, Mansfield declines to read the line given to her, opting instead to read a line from '' Come Back, Little Sheba''. She doesn't get the part. Meeting later with Garrett, Mansfield makes a high pitched cooing sound and strikes a pose, asking rhetorically if this is what they want. Garrett tells her she might be on to something and tells her to lose weight and change her hair. Mansfield states that she'll project an airheaded

bimbo Bimbo is slang for a conventionally attractive, sexualized, naive, and unintelligent woman. The term was originally used in the United States as early as 1919 for an unintelligent or brutish man. As of the early 21st century, the "stereotypic ...

image until her career gets going and then she'll switch to more serious roles. A month later Mansfield meets with Garrett at a car dealership, with blonde hair and wearing a pink polka-dot dress, she's received a pink Cadillac for free as promotion. Next, Mansfield appears at the Southern California press club (courtesy of Garrett to raise her profile), handing out Christmas presents while wearing a white fur trimmed bikini top and bottom. At a Florida poolside photoshoot, Mansfield pretends to fall in the pool (losing her bikini top in the process), shouting that she can't swim to get the attention of the photographers who eagerly take pictures of her.

Cast

Reception

Accolades

Nominated for

Primetime Emmy The Primetime Emmy Awards, or Primetime Emmys, are part of the extensive range of Emmy Awards for artistic and technical merit for the American television industry. Bestowed by the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences (ATAS), the Primetime ...

for * Outstanding Costume Design for a Special - Warden Neil (costume designer) * Outstanding Achievement in Makeup - Alan Friedman (makeup) Lona Jeffers (makeup) * Outstanding Achievement in Hair styling - Silvia Abascal (hairstylist) Janis Clark (hairstylist)

References

External links

*
The Jayne Mansfield Story at Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jayne Mansfield Story, The 1980 television films 1980 films 1980s biographical drama films American biographical drama films Biographical films about actors CBS network films Films directed by Dick Lowry Films scored by Jimmie Haskell Films set in the 1950s Films set in the 1960s Alan Landsburg Productions films Jayne Mansfield 1980s English-language films 1980s American films