#Fact1Grandfather of Brandon and Mickey Hargitay III.2Former stepfather of Jayne Marie Mansfield.3His son, Mickey Hargitay Jr., opened "Mickey Hargitay Plants", a nursery/landscaping service. [1980]4Mickey was declared to be Jayne Mansfield's official widower, after a court ruled her divorce from him was void.5Father-in-law of Peter Hermann. Former father-in-law of Dana Hargitay.6Is the Godfather of nephew, actor Eddie Hargitay.7Was inspired to take up bodybuilding after seeing famed bodybuilder Steve Reeves on a magazine cover. Both men later portrayed "Hercules" for Italian cinema.8Appeared on daughter Mariska Hargitay's TV program Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (1999) in 2003.9In addition to his four children he was survived by brother Eddie, sister Eva, ten grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.10Was given the Muscle Beach Hall of Fame Award from the Muscle Beach Historical Committee in May 2006.11Hosted a TV exercise show in 1959.12Performed an adagio act with Mary, his first wife, in nightclubs.13Walked into an Indianapolis gym one day in 1947 never having lifted weights before and astounded the owner when he was capable of lifting 215 pounds over his 180 pound frame.14A one-time exceptional soccer player and former European speed-skating champion.15His father was extremely athletic and brought up his sons to become athletes. The family had an acrobatic act that they performed in the large opera houses throughout Hungary.16Later became a successful real estate investor and contractor.17Did not begin bodybuilding until arriving in the U.S. in 1947. He did much to change the concept of the art, once thought of as freakish and discouraged by athletic coaches. It was also dominated by American champions until Hargitay won his 1955 titles.18Former stepfather of Jayne Marie Mansfield. Grandfather of August Miklos Friedrich Hermann (Mariska's son).19Father, with Jayne Mansfield, of sons Mickey Hargitay Jr., Zoltan Hargitay, and daughter Mariska Hargitay. He also has a daughter, Tina (b. 1949), by his first wife, Mary Birge.20Son Zoltan Hargitay was critically-injured by a "tame" lion, while visiting the Jungleland Zoo in the San Fernando Valley, but made a full recovery (December 1966).21Worked as a plumber and carpenter before his big break. He remodeled much of his and Jayne Mansfield's Beverly Hills mansion, The Pink Palace, including building its famous heart-shaped pool. In Nov 2002 the house was razed by it current owner.22He sued Mansfield's estate in September, 1967 for over $275,000 to support their 3 children; in their 1964 divorce decree, Mansfield agreed to pay child alimony.23Fled Hungary in 1947 to escape the compulsory Soviet military draft.24His career began when Mae West noticed him on the October 1953 cover of Strength and Health Magazine and made him a member of her muscleman night-club act.25First recipient of the Joe Weider Lifetime Achievement Award. [1999]26Mansfield initally divorced Hargitay on 1 May 1963; she divorced him again in Juarez, Mexico. On 26 August 1964, the California Superior Court recognized the Mexican divorce pronouncement.27While Mickey was posing in Mae West's popular revue at New York's Latin Quarter, Jayne Mansfield happened to catch the show. When her dinner companion asked her what she wanted that evening, she quipped, "I'll have a steak and the man on the left." The elderly Ms. West, never to be outdone in the vanity department, tried to break up the attention-grabbing couple but failed. They married two years later in what would become one of the most publicized marriages in Hollywood history.28Inspired to body-build after seeing a magazine cover of Steve Reeves (Le fatiche di Ercole (1958)), Mickey won the "Mr. Universe" competition in 1955 and later appeared as Hercules, himself, in the Italian film, The Loves of Hercules (1960), co-starring his then-wife, Jayne Mansfield.29After ex-wife Jayne Mansfield's death, Mickey arranged to have a heart-shaped headstone erected for her at her place of burial.30Member of ensemble cast of Mae West's stage show.