Dallas Bombshell Pinup Old Hollywood movie Star 1957 & 58 Jayne Mansfield in Dallas Ft Worth TX

1957 & 58 Jayne Mansfield in Dallas Fort Worth Texas

Jayne Mansfield, the woman destined to be a movie star, was born Vera Jayne Palmer in 1933, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania, to an attorney, Herbert W. Palmer, and his wife, Vera. In 1936, her father died. Vera married Harry Peers three years later, and the family moved to the prestigious Highland Park enclave of Dallas, where Mansfield was known as Vera Jayne Peers. Later Mansfield said she always felt like a Texan and always loved the cinema. She idolized the film stars of her childhood and was determined to perform. By the time she turned five, she was singing for anyone who would listen, including her gigantic collection of stuffed animals. At seven, she would stand in her driveway in Dallas, Texas and play the violin for passers-by. Though her idols changed over the years–from Shirley Temple to Gene Tierney, Hedy Lamarr, and Jean Harlow–they were always movie box office stars who served as inspirations.

She attended Highland Park High School and graduated in 1950. Her high school yearbook photo shows a brunette Jayne that participated in orchestra, the Hi-Lites girl’s service club, and the riding club. Early in life, she started a family, marrying her high school sweetheart, and having a baby girl, just six months after graduation. In November of 1950, Jayne Marie Mansfield was born to the 17-year-old Vera Jayne and her husband, Paul Mansfield. As a young mother and newlywed, she participated in local theatre, and in 1951, she enrolled at Southern Methodist University to study acting. In 1952, the Mansfield’s moved to study at the University of Texas at Austin, where she belonged to the drama department’s Curtain Club. She would then go on to act and practice her craft in numerous plays at the Austin Civic Theatre, later to be renamed the Zachary Scott Theatre.

Jayne Mansfield also lived in Kessler Park Oak Cliff on 1117 Canterbury Court Dallas, Texas. She lived there when she was married to her husband Paul Mansfield.

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