American actress and sexual icon of the 1950s and 1960s. Born in
Pennsylvania, she moved to Dallas, Texas after the death of her
father, attended the University of Dallas, and participated in
little theatre productions. She won small beauty contests (such as
"Miss Magnesium Lamp"), and attended the University of Texas in
Austin, taking drama classes. In 1954 she arrived in Los Angeles,
where she studied acting at UCLA and worked in bit parts in
television. She landed a small but sexy role in _Pete Kelly's Blues
(1955), which led to roles which were more prominent in several
ways. A job in the Broadway production of "Will Success Spoil Rock
Hunter?" brought her a good deal of attention for her scantily clad
appearance therein, and she repeated the role in the film version.
Her high- pitched squeal of delight and the studied ease with which
she flaunted her pulchritude led to a succession of roles as sex
kittens and dumb blonde bimbos. Although she occasionally appeared
in films of some quality, and though she apparently aspired to
respectability as an actress on occasion, her public persona was
too extreme to be taken seriously, and she became a sort of poor
man's 'Marilyn Monroe' (qv), though without the onscreen
vulnerability and ability that Monroe possessed. By the 1960s,
Mansfield's career had declined into one of cheesy sexploitation
and jokey guest appearances. While traveling between nightclub
engagements, she was killed in a highway accident in 1967, when the
car in which she was riding slammed into a semi- tractor trailer
truck.
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