Hollywood is a town built on illusions. Even in death, the legendary blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield manages to pull off one last disappearing act. If you take a stroll through the sun-drenched paths of the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in Los Angeles, you’ll stumble across a beautiful monument dedicated to her. It lists her birth year as 1938—a tiny white lie for a woman who was actually born in 1933—and it looks like the perfect final resting place for a 1950s icon.
But here’s the thing. She isn't there.
The stone in California is just a cenotaph, a memorial marker for a body that lies thousands of miles away. If you really want to know where is Jayne Mansfield buried, you have to trade the palm trees of Sunset Boulevard for the slate quarries and rolling hills of Northampton County, Pennsylvania.
The Quiet Corner of Pen Argyl
Mansfield’s actual grave is tucked away in Fairview Cemetery, located in the small borough of Pen Argyl. It’s a town of about 3,500 people. It’s quiet. Honestly, it’s the last place you’d expect to find one of the most photographed women in history.
Why Pennsylvania? It feels random, right?
Well, it wasn't random to her family. Before she was Jayne Mansfield, she was Vera Jayne Palmer. Although she was born in Bryn Mawr, she spent a chunk of her childhood in Pen Argyl after her father, Herbert Palmer, passed away when she was only three. He was buried in Fairview Cemetery. When Jayne died in that horrific 1967 car crash in Louisiana, her mother, Vera Peers, made the call to bring her daughter back home.
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She wanted Jayne to be next to her father.
The funeral was held on July 3, 1967. It wasn't some massive Hollywood production with paparazzi and velvet ropes. It was a private, somber service for those who actually knew the woman behind the "blonde bombshell" persona. Mickey Hargitay, her second husband and the father of Law & Order: SVU star Mariska Hargitay, was there. He’s actually the one credited with designing the most famous part of the site.
That Famous Heart-Shaped Headstone
You can’t miss it. While the surrounding graves are mostly traditional, upright granite slabs, Jayne’s marker is a large, pristine heart-shaped headstone made of pinkish-white marble. It stands out like a splash of color in a black-and-white movie.
The inscription is simple but heavy: “We live to love you more each day.” Fans still flock there. They leave pink flowers (her favorite color), lipstick-stained notes, and sometimes even small trinkets. It’s become a bit of a pilgrimage site for those who feel the "Marilyn Monroe clone" label did her a massive injustice. She was a woman with a reported IQ of 163 who spoke five languages. She was a mother of five who was trying to reinvent her career when it all ended on a foggy highway outside New Orleans.
Who Else Is There?
The plot isn't just Jayne and her dad. Over the years, the family has gathered there.
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- Herbert Palmer: Her father, whose death shaped her early life.
- Vera Peers: Her mother, who lived until 2000.
- Harry Peers: Her stepfather.
- Helen Milheim: Her aunt, who was a close confidante and lived in the area.
Walking through that section of the cemetery feels less like a celebrity tour and more like a family reunion. It’s intimate. It’s a stark contrast to the way she lived her life in the "Pink Palace" in Los Angeles.
The Louisiana Tragedy and the "Mansfield Bar"
We can't talk about where she ended up without mentioning how she got there. The crash happened around 2:00 a.m. on June 29, 1967. Jayne was in a Buick Electra with her lawyer/boyfriend Sam Brody and a driver. Her three children—Miklos, Zoltan, and Mariska—were asleep in the back seat.
They hit the back of a tractor-trailer that had slowed down behind a truck spraying mosquito fog.
The impact was devastating. The top of the car was sheared off. Rumors started immediately that she had been decapitated, but that’s actually a myth. Her death certificate cites a "crushed skull." It was gruesome, sure, but the "head rolling down the highway" stories are just urban legends.
The three children survived, which is nothing short of a miracle.
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Because of this accident, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration eventually required all semi-trailers to have a rear underride guard. Today, truckers and mechanics still call that steel bar a "Mansfield Bar." It’s a grim legacy, but it has saved countless lives since 1967.
Visiting Fairview Cemetery: What You Need to Know
If you're planning a trip to pay your respects, don't expect a gift shop. This is a functioning, local cemetery.
- Location: 1515 West Pennsylvania Avenue, Pen Argyl, PA.
- Etiquette: Be cool. It’s a quiet town. Don't leave trash or permanent markings on the stone.
- Finding the Grave: It’s located in the Palmer family plot. Most locals know exactly where it is if you get lost, but generally, look for the heart-shaped marble.
Why the Pennsylvania Site Matters
Some people think it’s sad that she’s buried so far from the glitz of Hollywood. I actually think it’s the opposite. In LA, she was a product. She was a "sex symbol" and a "starlet." In Pen Argyl, she’s just Jayne. She’s a daughter and a mother.
The cenotaph at Hollywood Forever satisfies the tourists, but Fairview Cemetery holds the truth. It represents the "before" and "after" of a life that was way more complex than the movies let on.
If you’re a fan of Hollywood history, your next step should be looking into the Fairview Cemetery official records or visiting the Sigal Museum in nearby Easton. They occasionally host exhibits on the Palmer family history that give you a much deeper look into the girl who became a legend. You can also look for the documentary My Mom Jayne, which features Mariska Hargitay visiting the site to reconnect with the mother she barely got to know.