Mariska Hargitay Is ‘So Happy’ With Her Life Today After Tragic Loss in Her Childhood

Mariska Hargitay experienced a tragedy at a young age with the death of her mother, Jayne Mansfield, but she was able to overcome the childhood loss and is “just so happy” with her life today, a source told Life & Style on Wednesday, August 21.

“As tragic as her mom’s death was, she had her dad (Mr. Universe, Mickey Hargitay), stepmom and stepsiblings,” the insider shared of the Law & Order: Special Victims Unit star, 60. “Mariska grew up in a stable home surrounded by love.”

Mariska was just 3 years old in 1967 when she and her mother were in a car accident. Jayne died at 34 years old, and her toddler daughter was left with a scar on the side of her head. Mariska’s two older brothers were also in the car and survived.

The actress grew up to fall in love with Law & Order: SVU guest star Peter Hermann, whom she married on August 28, 2004. The source revealed that Mariska and Peter, 57, “just had to be together.” She even broke out in tears on their first date at a church service because she knew she had found the man of her dreams.

“For her, it was very overwhelming to realize that, at 40, she had finally found her soulmate,” the insider continued.

Mariska and Peter now share kids August, 18, Amaya, 12, and Andrew, 12. The ER alum told Redbook in 2009 that their children “erased many of my negative childhood feelings and filled them with something new. You learn to feel grateful when you are exposed at such a young age to the fact that bad things can happen.”

The source said that Mariska and Peter, who recently spent time with their kids in Paris for the 2024 Olympics, are focusing on time together as a family because of how quickly time is moving.

“August recently graduated high school, and Mariska and Peter both wept; their baby’s all grown up and going to college,” the insider continued. “They can’t believe how the time has flown. While they still have a few more years with the younger ones, the thought of an empty nest is a little weird — but knowing they have each other makes it better.”

But fans shouldn’t worry about Olivia Benson disappearing from Law & Order: SVU anytime soon, either. The source added that the role Mariska has played for 25 years now, which inspired her to start the Joyful Heart Foundation dedicated to ending sexual assault, domestic violence and child abuse, is “a part of who she is.”

“She loves what she does,” the insider said.

A source exclusively told Closer back in June that Mariska “refuses to retire” from the show and “is prepared” to take it “as far as she can go. She doesn’t know what she’d do without SVU.”

Additionally, Mariska isn’t ready to leave the show’s crew high and dry. “She feels a responsibility to them,” the insider concluded. “They’d be out of a job without her.” At the end of the day, the source noted, “She is Olivia Benson, and Olivia Benson is her.”