Mariska Hargitay Escaped Death on Her 34th Birthday after Her Mom & Grandpa Died at the Same Age

• Mariska Hargitay was born to famous parents. Her father died at 80 while her mother passed away at 34, when she was only 3.
• Likewise, Maiska's grandfather also died at 34.
• Mariska lived in fear of dying young too. She got into a motorcycle accident on her 34th birthday.

"Law and Order" actress Mariska Hargitay is the daughter of an accomplished actress and actor. Her mother, Jayne Mansfield, was a successful actress and performer, and her father, Mickey Hargitay, was a bodybuilder who won the 1955 Mr. Universe title.

Mariska's father was born in Hungary, Budapest, on January 6, 1926. He came to the U.S. in 1947 and performed an adagio acrobatic act with his first wife, Mary Birge. The act involved Mickey carrying and lifting his lithe female partner in slow balletic moves.

Mickey went on to have his own acting career in the US, like his second wife, Jayne, whom he married on January 13, 1958. They featured in several movies together, including "Primitive Love" and "The Loves of Hercules."

Mickey died in 2006 at the age of 80 after battling bone marrow cancer. Before her father's death, Mariska had gone through a devastating loss when her mother died at the age of 34. The actress' grandfather also died at the same age.

Due to the early deaths in her family, Mariska lived in fear of dying young. Her grandfather died of a heart attack, so when she felt severe chest pains at one point, she worried that she was also having a heart attack. It turned out that one of her lungs had collapsed.

She underwent surgery, and the injured lung healed. Doctors told the actress that there was a greater chance of her healthy lung collapsing than the injured one again. Still, the lung collapsed, and Mariska was told she was one out of 1000 statistically.

On her 34th birthday, the same age her mother died, Mariska got into a road accident.

Mariska was scared again as she felt that she had so much to live for yet. Her lung was treated again, and she felt grateful when she recovered her health. She felt like the luckiest person alive. Unlike her mother, Mariska has been blessed with a long and healthy life.

How Did Mariska's Mother Die?

The actress's mother died in a car crash in 1967. Mariska, who was only three at the time, was asleep in the backseat. She doesn't remember the accident, but she said losing her mother at such an early age was traumatic and "the scar of my soul."

The crash killed two other people, Jayne's boyfriend then, Sam Brody, and the driver, Ronald B. Harrison. Mariska was lucky to come out of it alive. Her brothers Zoltan, who was 6, and Miklos Jr, who was 8, also survived the incident.

Jayne, her kids, her boyfriend, and her driver were traveling to New Orleans on a dark Louisiana highway when the accident occurred. Their car slammed into the back of a truck, causing the front of the car to slide underneath the truck's trailer.

Reports said Richard may not have seen the truck in front of him due to a machine on the road pumping thick fog to kill mosquitos. The crash led to a new US law forcing trucks with similar designs to install steel bars to stop cars from sliding underneath them in case of a crash. The steel bars were named Mansfield bars in memory of Mariska's mother.

Mariska's only recollection of the accident is a scar on her forehead that reminds her of the tragedy. She said the loss of her mother in the road accident made her into the person she is today.

Mariska was raised by her father, whom she said was her role model and inspiration. Her father had remarried Ellen Siano after he and Jayne divorced before she died. Ellen, who referred to Mariska as an angel and loved raising her, went on to be a motherly figure in Mariska's life. The actress recalled:

"She was great, and I was happy. There was a lot of this wonderful feminine energy in the house, and she was so sweet and took care of me. There was an absence, and then there was a person there in the absence."

Six years after Mariska lost her mom, she came close to losing her stepmom too. The plane Ellen boarded on her way to Los Angeles hit violent turbulence, with one passenger dying. Four other people were hospitalized, including Ellen.

Ellen was badly injured, and it took a lot of time for her to heal. Mariska said it was really hard and scary knowing her stepmom was hurt. The actress, her father, and her siblings visited Ellen at the hospital.

Mariska added that seeing their stepmom injured was tough to deal with, especially after they lost their mother. She also opened up on the impact of losing her mother when Jayne was only 34 years old.

How Did Mariska's Mother's Death Affect Her?

Mariska was always scared of living fully as she feared she would die young like her mother. On her 34th birthday, the same age her mother died, Mariska figured in a road accident. She recalled thinking that her 34th birthday meant she was next in line to die.

Two and half hours into her birthday, her friends convinced her to let go of her fears. She admitted that she didn't want to live her life based on fear. So, Mariska got on her motorbike and went for a ride with her friends.

Within 30 seconds of this ride, one of the cars that were with Mariska lost control because the driver was looking at her cell phone, and the car hit the actress's motorcycle. "Everything stopped, and I went flying through the air, and I thought, wow, I can't believe this, you are going to die like they did," she remembered.

Mariska felt like her death was coming at 34, just like her mother's and grandfather's, but then she landed on the ground and realized she was alive. The actress said her life began right then after she let go of her fears.

Today, Mariska is at peace in her place of calm. She is a mother to three children, August Miklos Friedrich Hermann, Andrew Nicolas Hargitay Hermann, and Amaya Josephine Hermann. The actress is married to her loving husband, Peter Hermann. Mariska said her husband and children have been her place of healing and have provided the spot she'd love to retire to.

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