Mariska Hargitay opens up about discovering identity of her biological father

Mariska Hargitay revealed a decades-long secret about her biological father in her new documentary.

Mariska Hargitay revealed a decades-long secret about her biological father in her new documentary.

The “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit” star is the daughter of the late Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay. Mansfield died in 1967 when her daughter was 3, while Mickey Hargitay died in 2006.

However, as revealed in the new documentary “My Mom Jayne” and a corresponding interview with Vanity Fair, singer Nelson Sardelli is her biological father, not Mickey Hargitay.

Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay married in 1958, though Mansfield filed for divorce in 1963 and began dating Sardelli. She and Mickey Hargitay eventually reunited months before Mariska Hargitay was born, with her dad ultimately raising her and her siblings after her mom’s death.

Reflecting on her relationship with her late father, Mariska Hargitay told the outlet, “He was my everything, my idol. He loved me so much, and I knew it. I also knew something else — I just didn’t know what I knew.”