Mariska Hargitay shares ‘family of the year’ photo with famous mom ahead of poignant day

Mariska Hargitay started the Mother’s Day celebrations early in recognition of her “family of the year”.

The Law & Order: SVU actress took to Instagram to share a stunning photo of three of her siblings as children alongside their late parents, Jayne Mansfield and Mickey Hargitay.

Mariska shared a “sweet” anecdote about the photo, which featured Jayne and her eldest daughter, Jayne Marie, watching eldest son Mickey Jr. blowing out candles on a birthday cake while their dad, Mickey Hargitay, held a baby Zoltan.

“On May 8th, 1960 (which was Mother’s Day), the Mildred Strauss Child Care Chapter of Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City declared #MyMomJayne and family, ‘Family of the Year,'” she captioned the heartwarming photo.

“What a sweet way to honor my parents and siblings on a day all about celebrating motherhood,” she added.

Her followers loved the family throwback, with one commenting: “Oh god what an amazing picture!” Another said: “Awww that’s so sweet and what a beautiful picture!!!”

Jayne Mansfield’s death

Mariska was only three years old when, in 1967, her mother, then only 36 years old, died in a car crash in Biloxi, Mississippi.

The Olivia Benson actress was in the car, a 1966 Buick Electra 225, when it crashed head-on at high speed into the back of a tractor-trailer, instantly killing her mom along with her attorney, Sam Brody, and their driver, Ronnie Harrison, who was 20 at the time.

Mariska and her brothers, Mickey Jr. and Zoltan, were in the back of the car and escaped with minor injuries.

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In a 2018 interview with People, Mariska spoke about losing her mother. “The way I’ve lived with loss is to lean into it,” she began.

“As the saying goes, the only way out is through. I’m not saying it’s easy, and it certainly hasn’t been for me. There’s been a lot of darkness. But on the other side things can be so bright.”

“She was an inspiration, she had this appetite for life, and I think I share that with her,” added Mariska.

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During an appearance on The Drew Barrymore Show in October 2024, Mariska reflected on how turning 60 helped her overcome some of her childhood trauma.

“I think as we age, we step into our power, our focus of what’s important narrows down, and we get time and space back,” she said. “I think that the gift that I have is clarity.”

My Mom Jayne

In April, the actress announced that she had teamed up with HBO on the documentary My Mom Jayne, which she also directed, about her late mother.

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Speaking in a statement, Mariska said: “This movie is a labor of love and longing. It’s a search for the mother I never knew, an integration of a part of myself I’d never owned, and a reclaiming of my mother’s story and my own truth.

“I’ve always believed there is strength in vulnerability, and the process of making this film has confirmed that belief like never before.”