All About Mariska Hargitay's Biological Dad Nelson Sardelli & How She Learned the Truth About His Identity
Mariska Hargitay disclosed the truth about her biological father, Nelson Sardelli, for the first time in her documentary, My Mom Jayne.
In Mariska’s documentary about her late-mother, Hollywood icon Jayne Mansfield, she revealed for the first time that her birth father was the Brazilian-Italian singer and not Mickey Hargitay as she always thought growing up.
The Law & Order: SVU star was born during Mickey’s tumultuous marriage to the former Playboy Playmate but says she always felt different from her siblings, Jayne Marie, Zoltan and Mickey Jr. Mickey and Mansfield separated in 1963, then Mansfield had a brief relationship with Sardelli. But after her mom reconciled with Mickey shortly before she was born, Mariska was raised a the Hungarian bodybuilder’s daughter.
Mansfield died in a 1967 car accident that a 3-year-old Mariska survived. However, it would take the actress two more decades to discover the truth about her biological father. Below, we’re breaking who Sardelli is and how Mariska came to know her birth dad.
Who Is Nelson Sardelli?
Sardelli is a 90-year-old Brazilian-born singer of Italian descent. He dated Mansfield in 1963, resulting in her becoming pregnant with Mariska. At the time, Mansfield was trying to get a divorce from Mickey Hargitay, with whom she shared Mickey Jr. and Zoltan. However, fearing a baby out of wedlock would damage her career, she reconciled with Mickey later in her pregnancy.
Sardelli is best known as a Las Vegas show singer and got his big break by supporting Judy Garland.
Mariska long suspected that Mickey was not her dad, telling Vanity Fair in May, “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.” In her 20s, the actress saw a photo of Sardelli and, as she told Vanity Fair, “It was like the floor fell out from underneath me.” However, after confronting Mickey and getting rebuffed, Mariska didn’t bring up Sardelli again until after Mickey’s 2006 death.
Mariska Met Her Biological Father in Her 30s
After Mickey’s death, Mariska eventually went to Atlantic City to see Sardelli perform and meet him for the first time. She told Vanity Fair that he told her, “I’ve been waiting 30 years for this moment.” However, she was defensive. “I went full Olivia Benson on him,” Mariska recalled. “I was like, ‘I don’t want anything, I don’t need anything from you.… I have a dad.'” She added, “There was something about loyalty. I wanted to be loyal to Mickey.”
However, she eventually made peace with the lie that haunted her life for years. “I grew up where I was supposed to, and I do know that everyone made the best choice for me,” she recalled. “I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter—that is not a lie.”
Sardelli & Mariska Have a Close Relationship
After a rocky start, Mariska and Sardelli grew close, though she kept their relationship out of the public eye. She also formed a close bond with Sardelli’s two daughters, Giovanna and Pietra, telling, The Hollywood Reporter on June 27, “We have always been very close from the minute we met.”
“I’m profoundly grateful to my sisters for putting my pain and need to keep this a secret first,” she added. “It was an extraordinary act of selflessness and an act of love and generosity. I think now they’re just so happy, and we all feel so free.”
Sardelli Was ‘Thrilled’ When Mariska Chose To Reveal His Identity
Mariska revealed in a June 26 appearance on Today that Sardelli was delighted when she decided to go public with his identity in My Mom Jayne. “My birth father… was thrilled because he’d been living with this secret, too, all these years,” she said. “My sisters were over the moon because, obviously, they’d been kept a secret. My [other] siblings were hesitant and like, ‘Wait, what? Why are you digging up the past?'”
Eventually, Mansfield’s other children came around to the doc. “We talked about it more, and they said, ‘Look, we support you. We trust you, and it’s your story to tell,'” Mariska said.
Before you go, click here to learn all about Mariska Hargitay’s three children with Peter Hermann.