BBC: 1999 Jayne Mansfield Documentary

Source:Primativo- Hollywood Babydoll Jayne Mansfield, being interviewed by BBC for their documentary about her.

"Movie star, pin-up queen, nightclub performer Jayne Mansfield lived a short but colorful life (1933-1967) during which she married three times, had five children (including TV star Mariska Hargitay), made over 30 films, appeared on hundreds of magazine and record album covers and dozens of TV appearances. She was known for her "dumb blonde" persona, almost-cartoonish dimensions, and a brilliant intelligence (she spoke multiple languages, played various instruments and was reported to have a 163 IQ). Unfortunately, she is as recognized for her presence in the media (including for her untimely passing) as she is for her on-screen performances. This comprehensive British documentary features tons of media footage, interviews with all three of her husbands, two of her children, and her friends and collaborators...

From Primativo

I guess in one way Jayne Mansfield was a great actress and not just a great comedic actress and comedian, but a real great actress at least in the sense that she had so many people fooled. She wanted to be seen as the dumb blonde who needed her hot, adorable, sexy image to pay her bills. But in actuality she always knew what she was doing. An intelligent woman who wanted to be viewed as a bimbo and was such a great actress that she pulled that off. She had people thinking she was exactly as she came off which was as a bimbo.

Marilyn Monroe had the famous quote that it takes a smart woman to play the dumb blonde. Well that was Jayne Mansfield, the smart woman who played the dumb blonde. She knew what Hollywood was and how she could be successful in it and played her talents to the hilt. A hot, adorable woman with a great body, but who also had a great sense of humor and comedic timing, who was also an accomplished singer. But knew exactly what people in Hollywood and what the fans noticed first and what they wanted.

Which was to see this hot, adorable woman with the great curve appeal and then you add to that which was she was a great entertainer. Someone who should exchange wisecracks with funny people like Tom Ewell, Edmond O'Brien, Merv Griffin, Jack Benny, Cary Grant, and many others.

Jayne was better than Marilyn Monroe at least in this sense that Jayne knew she was really good and had made it and deserved what she accomplished. Unlike Marilyn who was battling mental illness and depression and was heavily medicated for a lot of her adult life and had even attempted suicide and been committed at one point.

Jayne had a plan from day one and knew what she needed to do to make it in Hollywood. But unfortunately Jayne Mansfield falls in the class of what could've happened if only and ends up dying at 34 in 1967 because of a car crash where she wasn't even driving because her and her crew were in a big hurry to meet a big appointment that they had in New Orleans the next morning.

By the time Jayne died in 1967 she was woking the nightclub circuit as a singer because her Hollywood career had burned out because the major studios no longer wanted to work with her.

Jayne mentally in many ways was just as adorable as she was physically. She came off a little girl both physically and personally. And was fairly immature and developed bad habits like drinking heavily and not able to take criticism very well and work to expand her image so she could get better and bigger parts.

Which is why she fell out of Hollywood and down to the nightclub circuit just to pay the bills and keep working. 

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