Who is Nelson Sardelli? All about Mariska Hargitay’s Biological Father

In a deeply personal revelation, actress Mariska Hargitay, 61, has shared that Nelson Sardelli — not Mickey Hargitay, the man who raised her — is her biological father. The shocking discovery is at the center of her upcoming documentary My Mom Jayne, premiering on HBO on June 27, 2025, and was also discussed in a recent episode of the Call Her Daddy podcast.

A Life-Changing Discovery

Hargitay, best known for her long-running role as Olivia Benson on Law and Order: SVU, grew up believing that Hungarian-born bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay — who was married to her mother, 1950s bombshell actress Jayne Mansfield — was her father. He raised Mariska and her siblings after Mansfield’s tragic death in a car crash in 1967.

However, while reviewing memorabilia from her mother’s life with the president of the Jayne Mansfield fan club, Hargitay came across the name Nelson Sardelli. That moment sparked a powerful intuition.

“I knew in one second,” she recalled. “I don’t know how. All the millions of little fragments from my life — memories, subconscious things — suddenly made sense.”

When she asked about Sardelli, the fan club president turned pale and tried to dismiss it. But Mariska had already connected the dots.

Confronting the Truth

She later confronted Mickey Hargitay, who denied the claim and insisted she would “always be a Hargitay.” Despite this, Mariska says the truth felt undeniable.

“The irony is that I’m more like Mickey than anyone else in the family,” she admitted. “But that moment hurt so deeply — it’s when I became an adult.”

Who Is Nelson Sardelli?

Nelson Sardelli is a Brazilian-born Italian-American singer, actor, and comedian, long associated with the golden age of Las Vegas entertainment. Born on September 20, 1934, he initially worked at General Motors in Michigan before enlisting in the U.S. Army, where he began performing and teaching dance.

After his military service, Sardelli entered showbiz full-time, eventually landing regular gigs in Las Vegas, including opening for Judy Garland and performing at the Flamingo. In 1963, he began dating Jayne Mansfield and nearly married her. However, when she became pregnant, Mansfield worried that an out-of-wedlock child would harm her public image, so she remained married to Hargitay — and presented him as the child’s father.

Sardelli later married Fledia Fay Sardelli and had three daughters. His wife passed away in 2012. As of 2025, he is 90 years old, lives in Las Vegas, and is now married to Lorraine Sardelli.

He appears in My Mom Jayne, the documentary directed by Mariska Hargitay, which explores her mother’s complex legacy and sheds light on Mariska’s own emotional journey toward the truth.