Mickey Hargitay, the actor and former Mr. Universe who brief marriage to '50s bombshell Jayne Mansfield garnered him plenty of publicity in Hollywood fanzines in his time, died in Los Angeles on September 14 of multiple myeloma. He was 80.

He was born on January 6, 1926, in Budapest, Hungary. His family had been an acrobatic act that performed in Eastern Europe. An underground fighter during World War II, Hargitay immigrated to the United States after the war and settled in Indianapolis by 1947. It was around this time that he discovered bodybuilding. With hard work and dedication, he moved to the head of the class, and by 1951, he was competing - and winning - regional contests such as Mr. Indianapolis before being crowned Mr. Universe in 1955.

After winning that prestigious bodybuilding crown, he progressed into show business when Mae West chose him to be a muscleman in her stage show, The Mae West Revue. It was there that Hargitay met Jayne Mansfield, whom he married in 1958. His film career also picked up steam as he had supporting roles in two fairly successful films: co-starring with his wife in Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? and Slaughter on Tenth Avenue (both 1957). He would go on to co-star with his wife in two more films The Loves of Hercules (1960) and Promises! Promises! (1963). After he divorced wife Mansfield in 1964, Hargitay worked in several cheerful, Italian flicks that not only highlighted his physique, but his self-deprecation: Revenge of the Gladiators (1964), Primitive Love (1965), Bloody Pit of Horror (1967), and Daughter of Frankenstein (1971).

After his film career settled down, Hargitay became a successful real estate investor. He returned to acting in 2003 when he guest starred in an episode with his daughter Mariska Hargitay (from his marriage to Mansfield) in Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2003). He is survived by his wife of 38 years, Elaine; daughters, Mariska, Tina; sons Mickey Jr. and Zoltan; brother Eddie; sister Eva; 10 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

by Michael T. Toole