When she was alive, it’s fair to say that Jayne Mansfield was a true force of nature. Many knew her from her short film career in which she starred in movies such as Too Hot To Handle and The Girl Can’t Help It. She won a Golden Globe for the latter, but beyond her movie star status, she was arguably best known for being a Playboy Playmate and all-around steamy sex symbol.
These two very different careers helped make Jayne Mansfield one of the most famous women in the entire world. Sadly, her life was cut short when she died in a 1957 car crash while traveling from Biloxi, Mississippi to New Orleans, Louisiana. We didn’t think that things could get more horrific than her death (which also claimed the lives of two other adults and two dogs), but then we took a closer look at her death certificate and the horrifying details it revealed.
Just what are those details, and why will they forever change how you view this American icon? Keep reading to discover the creepiest details revealed by Jayne Mansfield’s death certificate.
Persistent rumors of decapitation
Before we can get to the truth about Jayne Mansfield’s death, we need to touch on one gory detail…or, to be more accurate, one gory rumor. From practically the moment that she died, there has been a persistent image that she was decapitated in the accident. Needless to say, the idea of one of the world’s prettiest and most famous faces flying off along with the rest of her head is one that horrifies the imagination.
In reality, Mansfield was not decapitated by the accident. This was verified by her undertaker Jim Roberts in a 1997 interview with The New York Times. “Her head was attached as much as mine is,” he said. Turning wistful, he also declared that this gruesome speculation stems directly from the weird assumptions people always made about the famous star. “People always figured wrong about Jayne … About the way she lived and the way she died.”
What caused the decapitation rumors?
As noted before, rumors that Jayne Mansfield had been decapitated in her fatal car accident persisted for many decades after her death. While grisly rumors about celebrities are nothing new, all of the rumors about Mansfield dying in such a gruesome way seem worse than usual. What, then, actually caused these decapitation rumors?
The most likely culprit is actually the actor’s wig. She was wearing it when the accident happened and the wig ended up far away from the actual car wreck. Many didn’t realize she was wearing a wig in the first place, so the sight of what appeared to be her hair so far from the accident was enough to make them believe she had lost her head altogether.
What really happened during Jayne Mansfield’s fatal accident
Now you know plenty about what didn’t happen the night that Jayne Mansfield died. But just what are the grisly details of that evening? Thanks to her death certificate, we know the truth: that her head was crushed by the impact of the car crash.
As for the crash itself, it occurred when Mansfield was making the aforementioned trip from Biloxi to New Orleans. Driving ahead of them was a semi-trailer truck, the kind that would normally be impossible to miss when looking ahead. Recently, though, a mosquito-repellent spray had been deployed in nearby swamps, creating a thick cloud that was difficult for drivers to see through.
The car was in the control of Mansfield’s driver, and he couldn’t see the big truck ahead of them due to the cloud. As such, the car collided with the truck at such high speeds (somewhere between 60-80 miles per hour) that the truck’s engine went into Mansfield’s vehicle. Her car also had its top largely torn off, another detail that led to the persistent rumors that she was decapitated.
The creepy testimony of her undertaker
After Jayne Mansfield died, her undertaker, Jim Roberts, had to prepare her body for the funeral. In an interview with The New York Times, he revealed that her injuries were “as bad as you get in this business.” Despite that creepy revelation, Roberts seemingly wanted to provide as much dignity as he could to the celebrity’s memory. That’s likely why he spends much of his time dismissing the decapitation rumors and generally lamenting the ghoulish way she is remembered by the public.
However, he wasn’t afraid to get very uncomfortably specific when alluding to how horrific Jayne Mansfield’s injuries were. For example, he discussed how grimly fortunate it was for the star to be carrying so many cosmetics with her when she died. “She had a lot of makeup with her … and I used it all,” he said.
Thanks, Roberts. It’s not like we needed to sleep tonight or anything!