Mariska Hargitay Reclaims Jayne Mansfield’s Piano in Emotional Tribute Documentary

In January 2024, Mariska Hargitay celebrated her 60th birthday with an unforgettable gift: her late mother Jayne Mansfield’s white grand piano. The emotional moment is featured at the end of My Mom Jayne, a documentary Hargitay created to honor and explore the life of her mother.

In the scene, Hargitay arrives at a storage unit in Los Angeles to find the refurbished piano, her husband Peter Hermann, and their three children waiting. Overwhelmed and touched, she confirms with Hermann that the long-lost piano now belongs to them. He simply replies, “Happy birthday,” making the occasion deeply personal and meaningful.

Carnegie Hall Premiere Honors Jayne Mansfield’s Musical Dreams and Lasting Artistic Legacy

The premiere of My Mom Jayne took place on June 13 at Carnegie Hall in New York City—a location rich with emotional resonance. Jayne Mansfield, a talented pianist and violinist, had always dreamed of performing there before her untimely death at age 34.

For Hargitay, who was only three when her mother passed away, screening the film at Carnegie Hall was a symbolic gesture that honored that dream and celebrated her mother’s artistic legacy. The event added another layer of poignancy to a project already steeped in personal history.

In My Mom Jayne, Hargitay, now 61, embarks on a journey to learn more about her mother, whose memory she only knows through stories, photos, and fragments. The white grand piano had long been one of Mansfield’s prized possessions. Singer Engelbert Humperdinck, who bought Mansfield’s Los Angeles mansion, had kept the piano for decades.

Hargitay had been trying to recover the instrument for years, staying in touch with Humperdinck’s daughter Louise in hopes of eventually bringing the piano home.

A Long-Lost Piano Returns Home as the Ultimate 60th Birthday Gift

During the film’s international premiere at the Cannes Film Festival in May, Hargitay shared how her husband orchestrated the surprise. On the first day of filming, Hermann—who was supposed to be flying back to New York with their children—called Hargitay and insisted she get into a waiting Uber.

Confused and thinking he was joking, she reluctantly agreed. Unbeknownst to her, the Uber took her to a storage facility where the camera crew had secretly set up. The emotional reveal of the piano was filmed as part of the documentary, becoming one of its most powerful and unexpected moments.

The inclusion of the piano in the documentary was a complete surprise to Hargitay, who was unaware it would become part of the film. Her husband had secretly coordinated with producer Trish Adlesic and the crew to capture the moment on film. “It was pure magic,” Hargitay said, describing the experience. The deeply personal journey that My Mom Jayne captures will be available to a wide audience when it premieres on HBO and Max on June 27, offering a moving tribute to a mother’s legacy and a daughter’s enduring love.