History Creator / JayneMansfield

* ''Film/PromisesPromises1963'' (a film in which she was naked in a film that had copious amounts of nudity since the Pre-Code era)

%%* SweaterGirl: Some of her roles had her in tight sweaters.

* SupermodeStrut: Her characters would do this, and any guy watching would be stunned.

* SexyWalk: Her characters would do this, and any guy watching would be stunned.

* SweaterGirl: Some of her roles had her in tight sweaters.

* DudeMagnet: Both in her films and in real life.

* DudeMagnet: Both in her films and in real life.

* BigDamnKiss: Was quite effective at using her full, luscious lips for this, as demonstrated in ''Film/WillSuccessSpoilRockHunter''.

* BigDamnKiss: Was quite effective at using her full, luscious lips for this, as demonstrated in Film/WillSuccessSpoilRockHunter.
* DarkSkinnedBlonde: This is especially notable in a 1955 photograph which depicts [[HamToHamCombat her and Marilyn Monroe glaring at each other after meeting at a movie premiere]]. Even though the photo is in black and white, Jayne's somewhat darker skin and ''much'' lighter blond hair appear in stark contrast to Marilyn's features.
* DumbBlonde: Just on-screen. Apparently, she spoke five languages (English, French, Spanish, German, and Italian), played both piano, violin, and viola, and her IQ was reportedly at or close to genius-level; Mansfield herself claimed her IQ was at 163.

* She tragically died young in the 1960s[[note]]Mansfield died in a car crash in 1967, while Monroe died of a drug overdose in 1962[[/note]]

* UrbanLegend: That the fateful tractor-trailer [[OffWithHerHead decapitated her]] when she hit it. This was likely sparked by the sight of the blonde object tangled up in the car's windshield on the crime scene (actually a wig she was wearing). The underride guard did ''not'' rip her head off, at least not [[CruelAndUnusualDeath not all of it at once.]]
* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Was apparently offered the role of Ginger on ''Series/GilligansIsland'' but turned it down because it epitomized the stereotype she was trying to get away from and she didn't want to degrade herself by doing television (a lot of actors at the time thought doing television was invoked [[FallenOnHardTimesJob as low as an actor could go]], with even Tina Louise herself horribly embarrassed at being associated with the role).

* DumbBlonde: Just on-screen. Apparently, she spoke five languages (English, French, Spanish, German and Italian), played both piano and the violin, and her IQ was reportedly at or close to genius-level; Mansfield herself claimed her IQ was at 163.

* ThePoorMansSubstitute: In the mid-1950s, Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and Marilyn Monroe had a contract dispute. To put pressure on Marilyn, the studio decided to find a substitute. Enter aspiring actress Mansfield, who thought that becoming a real-life Marilyn {{expy}} would jump start her career. She was partly right -- she got starring roles a lot sooner than if she'd worked her way up the ladder, but it led to her being labeled as "The Poor Man's Marilyn Monroe" (in that the movies in which Mansfield starred were fewer and not so popular as Marilyn's). Unfortunately, this led to type-casting as a blond bimbo, and when the 1960s arrived and styles changed, demand for her dropped.

* TropeNamer: [[PlayingWithATrope Sort of]]. The underride guard of modern tractor trailers is known as a "[[GallowsHumor Mansfield Bar]]", a reference to her rather unsexy demise.
* UrbanLegend: That the fateful tractor trailer [[OffWithHerHead decapitated her]] when she hit it. This was likely sparked by the sight of the blonde object tangled up in the car's windshield on the crime scene (actually a wig she was wearing.) The underride guard did ''not'' rip her head off, at least not [[CruelAndUnusualDeath not all of it at once.]]

Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actor, and as the second most famous of the "[[EveryoneLovesBlondes Blonde Bombshells]]" of TheFifties, paralleled Creator/MarilynMonroe in many ways.

The Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees song "Kiss Them for Me" is inspired by Mansfield. It was named after a movie co-starring Creator/CaryGrant that Mansfield hoped would legitimize her as an actor. ([[StarDerailingRole That's not how it went down.]])

* ThePoorMansSubstitute: In the mid-1950s, Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and Marilyn Monroe had a contract dispute. To put pressure on Marilyn, the studio decided to find a substitute. Enter aspiring actor Mansfield, who thought that becoming a real-life Marilyn {{expy}} would jump start her career. She was partly right -- she got starring roles a lot sooner than if she'd worked her way up the ladder, but it led to her being labeled as "The Poor Man's Marilyn Monroe" (in that the movies in which Mansfield starred were fewer and not so popular as Marilyn's). Unfortunately, this led to type-casting as a blond bimbo, and when the 1960s arrived and styles changed, demand for her dropped.

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Was apparently offered the role of Ginger on ''Series/GilligansIsland'' but turned it down because it epitomized the stereotype she was trying to get away from and she didn't want to degrade herself by doing television (a lot of actors at the time thought doing television was [[FallenOnHardTimesJob as low as an actor could go]], with even Tina Louise herself horribly embarrassed at being associated with the role).

* She tragically died young in the 1960s[[note]]Mansfield died in a car crash in 1966, while Monroe died of a drug overdose in 1962[[/note]]

* ''Film/PromisesPromises1963''

Jayne Mansfield (born Vera Jayne Palmer; April 19, 1933 – June 29, 1967) was an American actress, and as the second most famous of the "[[EveryoneLovesBlondes Blonde Bombshells]]" of TheFifties, paralleled Creator/MarilynMonroe in many ways.

The Music/SiouxsieAndTheBanshees song "Kiss Them for Me" is inspired by Mansfield. It was named after a movie co-starring Creator/CaryGrant that Mansfield hoped would legitimize her as an actress. ([[StarDerailingRole That's not how it went down.]])

* ThePoorMansSubstitute: In the mid-1950s, Creator/TwentiethCenturyFox and Marilyn Monroe had a contract dispute. To put pressure on Marilyn, the studio decided to find a substitute. Enter aspiring actress Mansfield, who thought that becoming a real-life Marilyn {{expy}} would jump start her career. She was partly right -- she got starring roles a lot sooner than if she'd worked her way up the ladder, but it led to her being labeled as "The Poor Man's Marilyn Monroe" (in that the movies in which Mansfield starred were fewer and not so popular as Marilyn's). Unfortunately, this led to type-casting as a blond bimbo, and when the 1960s arrived and styles changed, demand for her dropped.

[[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/jayne_mansfield.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:300:[-The... [[PoorMansSubstitute slightly less rich man's]] Marilyn Monroe.-] ]]

%%* PinkMeansFeminine: An avid wearer of pink, from her dresses to accessories, to cars, to [[https://www.messynessychic.com/2014/01/29/the-original-barbie-house-inside-the-mansfield-mansion/ her whole mansion]]. In contrast, Marilyn only wore pink [[Film/GentlemenPreferBlondes once]].

* She was married three times but had five children instead of being childless, one of whom was Mariska Hargitay (of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'').

* WhatCouldHaveBeen: Was apparently offered the role of Ginger on ''Series/GilligansIsland'' but turned it down because it epitomized the stereotype she was trying to get away from and she didn't want to degrade herself by doing television (a lot of actors at the time thought doing television was invoked [[FallenOnHardTimesJob as low as an actor could go]], with even Tina Louise herself horribly embarrassed at being associated with the role).

* She was married three times, but had five children instead of being childless, one of whom was Mariska Hargitay (of ''Series/LawAndOrderSpecialVictimsUnit'').
* She tragically died young[[note]]even if in a car accident instead of a drug overdose[[/note]]