The TRUE Scandalous Story Of Jayne Mansfield's Satanic Life

Jayne Mansfield Satanist, Jayne Mansfield Devil Worshipper, Jayne Mansfield High Priestess for the Church of Satan, Jayne Mansfield Cursed... These are all terms and headlines that are to this day associated with Jayne Mansfield nearly 50 Years after her death. Jayne Mansfield and her devil worshipping ways have inspired paintings, drawings, visual art, music, books, articles and many more forms of expression over the years but the most scandalous part is the fact that Jayne Mansfield was NEVER a Satanist.

Jayne at the Opening Gala Night at the San Francisco Film Festival / Via pinterest.com

The infamous story states that Jayne Mansfield was not only a practising member of the cult known as the Church of Satan but that she was a high priestess and succumbed to a hex placed on her boyfriend Sam Brody who insulted Anton Lavey, the leader of the cult. The most fascinating part however is the fact that none of these reports pre-date her death. Jayne had only ever met with Anton Lavey on two separate occasions although further research is beginning to come together and it is highly possible that they only met ONCE.

THE FIRST MEETING

How the Story Goes
The first meeting is reported to have taken place on the 26th of October 1966. Jayne was hosting a cocktail party in the lavish apartment suit she was staying at in San Francisco when talk of Anton Levey and the controversy surrounding his church fell on the lips of a member of the press who was a fellow party goer. He then suggested that they go for a drive to meet with Lavey at his Church. The story goes that Lavey welcomed Jayne and her peers into the Church and presented her with a medallion, making her the high priestess while at the same time cursing Sam Brody with a hex from the devil himself, ensuring that he would be dead within the year.

Why was Jayne in San Francisco?

With Kee Joon at The Empress of China Restaurant in San Francisco / Via sfgate.com

Jayne Mansfield was in San Francisco in October 1966 because she was in town to attend the San Francisco Film festival. On Friday the 21st of October 1966 she attended the opening night gala of the 10th Annual San Francisco Film Festival. Jayne Mansfield was invited to the San Francisco Film festival by event staff members Charlotte Maillard and Babs Covey. During her short stay in San Francisco Jayne was prominent at the festivals events and was invited to many cocktail parties, press gatherings and publicity inducing appearances. Jayne was staying in the luxurious apartment belonging to Mrs Lucia Halse at the Russian Hill Apartment Towers with accommodation organised by the event staff. On the 25th of October David Sacks, the general manager speaks to the press denying ever having invited Jayne to the event. He went on to disapprove of her outfits she was sporting particularly a couple of her very revealing show costumes she had previously used for her live satire gigs. However, Jayne certainly was invited. She had received free airfares and hotel stay as part of the invitation and was dotted on by festival officials at the opening banquet. What ever the reason for David Sacks wanting to humiliate Jayne is unknown, it was most probably a publicity gimmick to garner attention for the festival but in doing so he gave Jayne the worst kind of publicity. Putting the attention on Jayne for being a festival crasher when she was in fact an invited guest was a very horrible thing to do to her but then making harsh words about her wardrobe choice was purely uncalled for as Jayne was not the only Hollywood darling at the festival making a stir in risque clothing, the lovely Carol Baker wore a near see through gown to the very same opening night that Jayne Mansfield attended.

The Likely Possibility

Example of the reports of Jayne's stay in San Francisco / Via news.google.com

Given that Jayne Mansfield was making headlines all throughout her short stay in San Francisco it baffles me as to why I cannot find any newspapers from that time reporting on her visit to Anton Lavey at his San Francisco Church. All news articles from the dates surrounding her stay in San Francisco mention a lot about her antics in San Francisco and the stir she was causing at all the film festivals events but none of them seem to mention a trip to the devil. Interesting, considering it was a press man who convinced her to go. No photo's exist of Jayne Mansfield at Lavey's property and no one wrote of it, that is not until she was long gone.

So Where do the Stories Comes From?

May Mann comforts Jayne after her son was Mauled by a Lion / Via theelvisforum.freeforums.org

Well, by the 70's the allure of Anton Lavey was fading away. Interest in his Church was dwindling. Lavey was a good showman and needed a publicity boost. So before you know it, magazines's and newspapers all over the world are publishing articles about the secret life of Jayne Mansfield although these stories did trickle through in the very late 60's as well, but never prior to Jayne's passing. The headlines told of how she was a devil worshiper and had her entire career to thank for it. They blamed her death on her occult life and her dealings with the devil. For the newspapers and magazines publishing these stories it made very good press. Good press is all any of them cared about. There was not a care in the world about the possibility of ruining Jayne Mansfield's legacy and all she had worked hard for. Anyone who could jump on board to make a buck did. One of those people was someone she considered to be a close friend, Columnist May Mann. Jayne was good friends with many columnists of the day. She liked to keep them on her side so that they would write good things about her as often as possible and May was the one she felt most akin towards. May threw Jayne baby showers and birthday parties on several occasions. May Mann was the first Jayne Mansfield biographer. Her book titled Jayne Mansfield a Biography first released in 1973 is the most unreliable biography on Jayne Mansfield ever published. Master researcher Jocelyn Faris wrote of the book "The sensationalized style makes it difficult to take this book seriously. Mysticism, spiritualism, and devil worship serve as the cornerstone of the book". May betrayed the memory of Jayne Mansfield with her biography. A lot of events and dates mentioned in her book can and have been refuted. She demoralizes Jayne throughout the entire book and tones of jealousy can be felt in the way she wrote about her. Yet she praises and harps on about her god damn pink point white Siamese cat 'Princess' continuously. The last part of her book focuses a lot on Anton LaVey and Satanism. May sold Jayne out so that she could sell many copies of her book. Since the publication of May Mann's biography there have been numerous books on the occult and Satanism which feature a chapter or a paragraph on Jayne. Their research goes as far as quoting May Mann's book or articles stemming from the LaVey stories, none of them are based on research from what was reported in Jayne's lifetime nor from the mouth of Jayne Mansfield herself. Being a popular columnist of the 50's and 60's May Mann was chummy with many stars however she greatly exaggerated having close friendships with several including Elvis Presley and Marilyn Monroe, many Elvis fans often joke of her calling her his stalker/middle aged groupie. Worth mentioning is that May also wrote of Jayne's decapitation, a myth that has since been quashed but for someone who claimed to have been such a good friend of Jayne's she would have known that she was not decapitated as all of Jayne's friends and family knew. Instead she went along with what was common knowledge to the media and public at the time. Merely to sell her book. Other earlier biographies on Jayne Mansfield mention the LeVey tales but thankfully recent biographies have vastly improved.

So now you might be thinking 'If Jayne was not a Satanist, what's with those photo's I've seen printed in articles for years and continue to be plastered all over the internet today?' Well it's time to get to that part now because that concerns the so called second meeting.

THE SECOND MEETING (OR WAS IT ACTUALLY THE FIRST)

How the Story Goes

There actually isn't too much of a story to this one. All the hooha about hexes and high priestess honors occurred in the San Francisco stories. The meeting at the pink palace was merely a career boosting photoshoot with German photographer Walter Fischer in June of 1967.

The Likely Possibility

Walter Fischer / Via worthpoint.com

Jayne Mansfield had known photographer Walter Fischer for several years. He had photographed her at home in the early 60's (see image below) and she had just been reacquainted with him. Walter was the paparazzo snapping Jayne leaving court earlier in June 1967. He had also recently photographed Anton LaVey visiting Marilyn Monroe's crypt which had garnered LeVey with much needed publicity. Fischer asked Levey and Jayne to pose for a series of photographs together to which both parties agreed and the meeting was set to take place at Jayne's home. It is highly likely that this was the first and only time the pair would meet or interact with one another in any way.

Walter Fischer / Via gettyimages.com.au

Fischer had previously photographed Lavey visiting the grave of Marilyn Monroe

The Photo Shoot

Walter Fischer / Via worthpoint.com

The photo shoot took place in early June 1967. Present at the house was Jayne's boyfriend Sam and her four eldest children Jayne Marie, Miklos, Zoltan and Mariska. Fischer shot Jayne, Brody and the children around the property as a family before shooting Jayne with Lavey. Fischer set up lighting for the now famous shoot in Jayne's petrified wood walled den. Her marble side table was placed in the middle of the room atop of her tiger skin rug with two prop skulls. A large goblet was also used in the photo shoot to symbolize some sort of an offering. But it didn't end there. LaVey participated in several of her family snaps too. And after the days events they all went to Jayne's favorite hangout La Scala where Fischer took more photos. The photo's which appear to be of Jayne giving herself to the devil are the one's that are always used in print when writing of her Satanism. It was merely a photoshoot and the fact that Jayne got her kids involved shows how harmless the whole thing was, sadly of course it has been excessively exaggerated since her passing. Jayne was the queen of publicity throughout her entire career. It was how she found her fame in the first place. So she would have thought nothing of it to invite a man she had never met before into her home because he was the latest talk of the town.

Walter Fischer / Via worthpoint.com

Walter took the photo session all over the house including the the backyard by the famous pool.

Walter Fischer / Via worthpoint.com

Just a couple of the family photo's that took place on the same day

Walter Fischer / Via findadeath.com

The family pose with Anton

La Scala

Walter Fischer / Via popscreen.com

Jayne's favorite restaurant was La Scala. She frequented it often when she wasn't out of town. After completing the photo shoot, Jayne, Sam, Lavey and Walter Fischer ate dinner there. Below is a photo of Jayne and Lavey at La Scala. Jayne is holding the hand of boyfriend Sam Brody who is turned to the back speaking with a seated man. The decor at La Scala was unique and recognizable, as you will see in the two extra photo's I have included from around this era. After dinner at La Scala was complete Jayne and Sam went home together, without Lavey or Fischer accompanying them.

La Scala / Via Facebook: 100881629956979

La Scala in the 70's and 50's.

Jayne's Religious Views

The Star of David rarely left Jayne's side throughout 1966 & 1967 - Jayne Miss Spelled Mishpachah (missing an 'h') in a handwritten note to Sam / Via ebay.com

Throughout her entire life Jayne Mansfield wholeheartedly believed in God. Not only did she pray to god but she also brought her kids up to say a pray every night before bed. She thanked god for all that she had been blessed with. And she was never shy to speak of her beliefs to anyone who asked. Jayne was born and raised a Methodist Christian. During her marriage to Matt Cimber she was studying to become Catholic as her husband was a devout Catholic with a big Italian family however her marriage did not last and she never converted. In 1967 when it is claimed that Jayne Mansfield was a Satanist she was in actual fact taking instructions on Judaism. Boyfriend Sam Brody was devoutly Jewish and Jayne was seriously studying the religion in anticipation for a possible marriage. She was learning Yiddish terms, so she could coo to her boyfriend in his language and throughout all of 1967 she was often spotted wearing the star of David on her neck. Jayne was studying the Jewish faith with a well known Los Angeles Rabbi but had not yet completed her conversion to the faith when she passed away.

Conclusion

Every aspect of Jayne Mansfield's life was extremely well publicized the whole world over throughout her entire career. It was simply who she was, she believed that being a movie star meant sharing your life with the public. If Jayne Mansfield had have been a Satanist from October 1966 until her passing in June 1967 believe you me, the press would have known about it. It would have been printed in the thousands. Each week there would have been updates about it. During press conferences members of the media would have questioned her about it. There would be archive footage of interviewers asking her about it and thousands of newspaper articles from local papers to foreign ones. But NADA, there is nothing. Not a thing exists, WHY? Because it simply is not true. JAYNE MANSFIELD WAS NEVER A SATANIST is a certain fact. I have spoken with member's of her family, colleagues and friends on a personal basis and they know the true Jayne, they know she was loyal to God, they know she was not a devil worshiper. They will tell you that she never had a relationship or friendship with LaVey, she never sought his advise and she certainly never worshiped the devil, he was merely an acquaintance to her. The photo's that she posed for with him were never even published in her life time. After her death Lavey capitalized on these photo's, using them as 'proof' that she was a member of his cult. The stories that ran like wildfire in the 70's sparked a rather unfortunate event of tales that still gets printed today. For decades Anton continued to tell and re-tell his stories of Jayne to the media, using her for his own personal gain. Much later down the track he even had a series of photographs taken posing with a Jayne Mansfield Hot Water Bottle and a life size pinup poster. It was all just to further capitalize on her and the fame that she still held which was of course tremendously higher than his. The most horrible part of it is that it tarnishes the legacy of Jayne Mansfield. There are many forum's and social websites where people come together to discuss Jayne and speak of her in the most vile ways. People call her a whore, they say she got what she deserved, they blame her death entirely on the devil and the horrid names they call her are simply unbelievable. I often feel like screaming at these people and telling them that they know nothing about Jayne Mansfield (which they don't) but the sad reality is that there are simply too many people out there who still believe these false tales. They aren't going to take the time to go and learn about Jayne Mansfield and who she was as a person, they know what they've been told to know and that is all they care about. 40+ Years of lies is a lot to take back and it is hard to imagine it ever will be corrected.

Via ebay.com

Later in life an aging Lavey was still capitalizing on the blonde bombshell