Most fairy tales begin with “Once upon a time…”, and since this is ultimately a Hollywood fairy tale, let’s start it off the same way.
Once upon a time…on a spring day in 1933, a little girl named Vera was born in Phillipsburg, NJ. Her father was an up-and-coming young attorney in practice with Robert Meyner, who would become governor of NJ in 1954. Her mother was a teacher from Pen Argyl, who like most women of that era, was transformed into stay-at-home mom.
Unfortunately, like a lot of fairy tales, this one has a tragic turn. In what would eventually prove to be a grim foreshadowing of things to come, the little girl’s father died of a heart attack while driving a car in which his wife and daughter were passengers. The little girl who was only 3 grew up wanting to be – more than anything – a movie star. And as so often happens in fairy tales, her wish came true. Vera Jayne Palmer grew up to become Jayne Mansfield, secondly only, perhaps, to Marilyn Monroe as a blonde, iconic bombshell of the 1950s.
Jayne, her father, Herbert William Palmer, and her mother, Vera Jeffrey Palmer, lived in this lovely Dutch colonial home in the Hillcrest section of Phillipsburg. It was purchased from the Phillipsburg Building & Loan Association No. 7 in June of 1935. Just 32 when he died in 1936, Herbert Palmer must have thought this home would be an ideal place for a lawyer on the rise to raise a pretty little daughter. His career was on an upward trajectory; he was also a member of the NJ State Assembly during this time.
After Herbert’s death, Jayne and her mother returned to Pen Argyl, most likely to the tidy Victorian house on North Schanck Avenue that was the Jeffrey family home. Her mother returned to teaching, and sold the Phillipsburg house in November of 1939. In 1940, Jayne’s mother married Harry Peers and the new family moved to Texas.
The Phillipsburg house is currently listed for sale, and the realtor, Patrice Michel of ReMax Supreme has lived in the Hillcrest area for 35 years. She recalls that her former next-door-neighbor, Arla Senor, was little Vera Jayne’s babysitter during their short stay on Frost Avenue. Even Jayne’s babysitter had legal connections; Ms Senor’s uncle was District Court Judge William P. Tallman.
This beautiful story-book home is a far cry from Jayne’s most famous home. 10100 Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills was most commonly known as “the Pink Palace”. The home was originally built for crooner Rudy Vallee, and when Jayne & her 2nd husband, muscleman Mickey Hargitay bought the property, they immediately began to put their own touches on it. Pink was Jayne’s favorite color, and the color was used on every available surface. Mickey was very handy, and built a lot of the out-structures, including the barbecue, a grotto, and the famous heart-shaped pool, with “I love you Jaynie” inscribed on the bottom. It was later sold to singer Englebert Humperdink, and sadly, was demolished in 2002.
Even more sadly, our fairy tale ends with the death of Jayne Mansfield in a car accident in 1967 at the age of 34 – she lived to be just two years older than her father. Jayne is buried in Fairview Cemetery in Pen Argyl, PA. Fittingly, the woman who loved pink and who was a loving and beloved mother to five children (including actress Mariska Hargitay) is memorialized with a heart-shaped, pink granite gravestone.
Many thanks to Patrice Michel and her clients, who were gracious enough to invite me into their beautiful home; Frank Ferruccio – author of “Did Success Spoil Jayne Mansfield? Her Life in Pictures and Text”, and to the lovely ladies of the recorder of deeds office at the Warren County Courthouse in Belvidere.
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