Mariska Hargitay Family Guide: Parents, Husband, Kids and More

Mariska Hargitay’s family has made headlines over the years thanks, in part, to her storied childhood.

The Law & Order: SVU star is the daughter of late actress Jayne Mansfield, who died in a tragic June 1967 car crash that left Hargitay with severe injuries at age 3.

Although she always thought her biological father was bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay, Mariska discovered at age 30 that her dad is actually Italian singer and comedian Nelson Sardelli. In her 2025 documentary My Mom Jayne, Mariska detailed the revelation while expressing the belief that she “grew up where [she] was supposed to.”

“I do know that everyone made the best choice for me,” Mariska said. “I’m Mickey Hargitay’s daughter — that is not a lie.”

Mariska has two older brothers, Miklós Hargitay and Zoltán Hargaitay, as well as three half-siblings, Jayne Marie Mansfield and Antonio “Tony” Cimber (from her mother’s first and third marriages, respectively) and Tina Hargitay (from Mickey’s first marriage).

She married actor Peter Hermann in 2004 and they share three children — August, Amaya and Andrew.

Below, meet more of Mariska’s family members:

Jayne Mansfield

Mariska’s mother was an American actress and sex symbol of the 1950s and early 1960s, arguably best known for her open personal life. In 1956, she won the Theatre World Award for Promising Personality and in 1957, the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year – Actress.

Mansfield was married three times — to Paul Mansfield from 1950 to 1958, Mickey Hargitay from 1958 to 1964 and Matt Cimber from 1954 to 1966. She has five children: Jayne Marie, born 1950 (with Paul), Miklós, born 1958, and Zoltán, born 1960 (with Mickey), Tony, born 1965 (with Cimber), and Mariska, whose biological father, Sardelli, had a brief fling with Jayne during a split with Mickey.

Jayne tragically died in a car accident in June 1967 at age 34. Her car hit a trailer-truck from behind in New Orleans. Jayne, driver Ronald B. Harrison and Jayne’s lawyer Samuel S. Brody were all killed in the accident, while her children — then 8-year-old Miklós, 6-year-old Zoltán and 3-year-old Mariska — suffered significant injuries but survived.

“I lost my mother when I was 3 years old, and I grew up in a house of people dealing with the tragedy in their own way,” Hargitay said at the 2024 Hope for Depression Research Foundation’s 18th Annual HOPE Luncheon Seminar. “Because there was so much grief, there wasn’t room to prioritize anyone. We didn’t have the tools that we have now to metabolize and understand trauma.”

Mickey Hargitay

Mariska’s father Miklós Károly “Mickey” Hargitay was a Hungarian-American actor and bodybuilder. Born in Budapest, he moved to the U.S. in 1947 and eventually became a U.S. citizen. He married Jayne in 1958 and they shared three children, Miklós, Zoltán and Mariska.

Mickey died at age 80 on September 14, 2006, from multiple myeloma, a form of blood cancer.

Nelson Sardelli

Sardelli is a Brazilian-born singer-comedian of Italian descent and was a well-known Las Vegas entertainer. Mariska learned he was her biological father when she was 30 years old, she revealed in her 2025 documentary, My Mom Jayne.

After meeting Sardelli, she initially fought to stay loyal to Mickey — whom she still considers her father — telling Vanity Fair in an interview that she felt she was “living a lie my entire life.”

Eventually she built a bond with Sardelli and his daughters, her half-sisters, but said that she understood why her mom returned to Mickey following a brief affair.

“I grew up where I was supposed to,” she explained.

Miklós Hargitay

Miklós, or Mickey Jr., is Jayne and Mickey’s eldest child, born in 1958. He appeared in New York, New York (1967) and on The Merv Griffin Show (1962), but now runs a Hollywood plant shop.

In a moving post shared via Instagram in December 2023, Mariska praised her big brother, writing alongside a photo: “I love this guy so much. Best big brother. Soulful. Protective. Nurturing. Funny. Fun. Kind. Wise. Gentle. Hard Working. Fair #plantman happy birthday Mickey love you. Best brother ever and best PLANTS ever. To watch somebody nurture plants is a thing of beauty.”

Zoltán Hargitay

Zoltán is Mariska’s brother, born to Jayne and Mickey in 1960. He worked as a carpenter on films and also appeared in Retroactive (1997), T-Force (1994) and Shrunken Heads (1994).

Ellen Siano

Siano is Mariska, Mickey Jr. and Zoltán stepmother and Mickey’s third wife.

Following Jayne’s death, Mariska and her brothers were raised by their father and Siano in Los Angeles. Mariska has praised her stepmom for how she immediately stepped up following the accident.

“I called her Mom. She really claimed us. She never had biological kids of her own, and to this day we are her kids,” Mariska told Good Housekeeping in 2012.

“We were blessed that she really embraced us and loved us so quickly,” she continued. “And I was very fortunate to have a maternal figure in my life after such a horrific accident.”

Jayne Marie Mansfield

Born in 1950 to Jayne and her first husband, Paul, Jayne Marie is Mariska’s half-sister. She is an actress and model, following in her mother’s footsteps when she was a featured model for Playboy magazine in July 1976.

She gave up her Hollywood career and, as of 2008, was living in L.A. and working as a money manager, Mariska revealed in an “Ask Stacy” column at the time.

Anthony “Tony” Cimber

Tony is Jayne’s son with her third husband, film director Matt Cimber. Born in 1965, he is reportedly a director and actor.

Peter Hermann

Hermann is Mariska’s husband. The fellow actor and Mariska tied the knot in 2004 and welcomed three children together, August, Amaya and Andrew.

On their successful marriage, the Younger alum told People in 2019: “It’s the way we find our way back to each other. It’s this fantastically, wonderfully ridiculous way that we can swing back and forth any number of times in any given day. But fundamentally we know we have the same destination.”

“We know where we’re headed, and it’s good,” he added. “And we know we’ll get there together.”

August Hermann

Mariska gave birth to her first child, August, at age 42, in June 2006.

Amaya Hermann

Mariska and Peter adopted daughter Amaya in April 2011.

Andrew Hermann

Mariska and Peter adopted son Andrew six months after Amaya joined the family in October 2011.