Today, we are taking a trip back to the swinging 1960s to look at a pairing so bizarre, it sounds like pure Hollywood fiction: blonde bombshell Jayne Mansfield and the high priest of the Church of Satan, Anton LaVey.
Was it a genuine romance, a calculated PR stunt, or a dark occult tragedy? Let’s unpack the details.
The Bombshell and the Showman
By 1966, Jayne Mansfield’s movie career was in a bit of a slump. Once groomed by 20th Century Fox to be the next Marilyn Monroe, the public’s taste was shifting toward waifish, mod icons like Twiggy. But Jayne was an absolute “attention junkie” who lived for the spotlight.
Enter Anton LaVey. In 1966, LaVey famously shaved his head and founded the Church of Satan in San Francisco. Now, to be clear, LaVey wasn’t a “Satanist” in the traditional, devil-worshipping sense—he was an atheist and a master provocateur who used Satan as a symbol for rebellion, indulgence, and breaking sexual taboos.
The two met at the 1966 San Francisco International Film Festival. Seeking headlines, Jayne visited LaVey’s famous “Black House”. Recognizing a fellow marketing genius, LaVey immediately awarded her the title of “High Priestess of San Francisco’s Church of Satan”.
Real Affair or PR Alliance?
The media absolutely devoured photos of the two together, which featured everything from Jayne lounging by her iconic heart-shaped pool to the pair performing theatrical “Satanic rituals” against tiger-skin rugs.
But what was actually going on between them?
The Case for a Romance: LaVey’s daughter, Karla, later insisted on talk shows that Mansfield was a practicing Satanist and that she and her father had a passionate, romantic affair.
The Case for Just Friends: Jayne publicly maintained that she was a strict Catholic (and jokingly claimed her dog was, too!). She told reporters she didn’t actually believe in LaVey’s church but simply found him to be an “interesting” person and “a genius”.
Ultimately, both shared an insatiable appetite for fame. They used each other beautifully to stay at the forefront of national news.
The “Curse” and the Lion Attack
The plot thickens when we introduce Jayne’s boyfriend and attorney, Sam Brody. Brody was reportedly incredibly jealous of Jayne’s association with LaVey. Legend has it that Brody visited the Black House, mocked the decor, and disrespectfully lit a skull candle. Infuriated, LaVey allegedly placed a curse on Brody, proclaiming that he would die in a car crash within a year, warning, “Anyone with you will die too”.
Shortly after, a series of bizarre misfortunes befell Jayne and Brody. First, Jayne’s young son, Zoltan, was severely mauled by a lion at a theme park called Jungleland. Distraught, Jayne allegedly called LaVey for help. LaVey performed a mountaintop ritual to aid the boy’s recovery, and when Zoltan miraculously pulled through, Jayne publicly credited LaVey’s “Satanism” for the cure.
A Tragic End and Lasting Legacies
Over the next few months, Sam Brody survived multiple minor car crashes—but his luck finally ran out.
On June 29, 1967, just 18 days after Jayne and LaVey were last photographed together, a car carrying Jayne, Brody, and driver Ronnie Harrison slammed into the back of a tractor-trailer. All three adults were killed instantly. Thankfully, Jayne’s three children asleep in the backseat—including a young Mariska Hargitay (future star of Law & Order: SVU)—survived the crash.
The Spooky Detail: Rumor has it that at the exact moment of the crash, LaVey was at home cutting out a photo of himself from a magazine. When he flipped the page over, he realized his scissors had sliced clean through the neck of a picture of Jayne on the reverse side. Moments later, the phone rang with the news of her death.
While LaVey spent the next 30 years capitalizing on the tragedy and mourning the fact that his “curse” on Brody accidentally claimed Jayne, the actress left behind a very unexpected legacy. Because of her gruesome accident, tractor-trailers are now required to have a rear steel bar to prevent cars from sliding underneath them. To this day, it is officially known as the “Mansfield Bar.”
What do you think? Was Jayne the victim of an occult curse, or was it just a terrible, heartbreaking accident at the end of a wild Hollywood ride? Let me know your thoughts in the comments below!
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