Though he would lose almost every contest he entered in his bodybuilding career, Mickey Hargitay would win the 1955 NABBA Mr. Universe.
Miklós Karoly Hargitay (or Hargitai) was born in Budapest, Hungary, on January 6, 1926. He was the son of Ferenc and Mária (Rothsischer) Hargitay (or Hargitai). He and his three brothers were all brought up as athletes by their athletic father. In fact, as a youngster Hargitay was part of an acrobatic act with his brothers. The act was so popular that the brothers performed throughout all Hungary, including the largest opera house in Budapest. After being introduced to speed skating by his brother, Hargitay began competing in that sport. In fact, in 1946, he would win the Middle European championship at 500 and 1,500 meters, and place second in the 5,000 meter race. He also participated in football and even became an underground fighter during World War II.
At age 21 in 1947 Hargitay left Hungary for the United States to avoid being drafted into military service by the Soviet Union. Settling in Cleveland, Hargitay worked as a plumber and carpenter as well as performing in an acrobatic act with his first wife, Mary Birge. Then he was inspired to begin bodybuilding after seeing an image of Steve Reeves on the cover of a magazine.
Hargitay began entering bodybuilding contests with little success until 1955 when he won the NABBA Mr. Universe.
1951 Mr Mid-America - AAU, 3rd
1952 Mr America - AAU, 9th
Mr World - AAU, Overall, 7th
Mr World - AAU, Tall, 4th
1953 Mr America - AAU, 12th
1954 Mr America - AAU, 8th
Junior Mr America - AAU, East , 3rd
1955 Mr America - AAU, 6th
Mr National Capital - AAU, 2nd
Mr Universe - NABBA, Overall Winner
Mr Universe - NABBA, Tall, 1st
1963 Universe - Pro - NABBA, Tall, 5th
What’s interesting is that he would win the contest against some formidable competition, including Mr. America Dick Dubois as well as John Lees and Henry Downs who would both go on to win the Mr. Universe. The subdivision winners illustrate that Hargitay didn’t just walk away with the title, but had some stiff competition,
Sub-division Winners:
Best arms: Mahmoud Namdjou (Persia)
Best Chest: John Lees (England)
Best Back: John Lees (England)
Best Legs: Mickey Hargitay (USA)
Best Abdominals: Ted White (England)
As Wally Wright mentioned in an article in the September 1955 Iron Man: “Here we wonder how the judges are going to separate the smoothness of DuBois' shape from the definition of Hargitay and the bulk of Britain's Lees.”
Then Hargitay is declared the winner of the tall class as reported in the September 1955 Muscle Builder: “The Amateur Division found handsome Mickey Hargitay fulfilling the prediction we had made back in 1952 when we introduced him to the bodybuilding world as a star to watch. He scored a stunning upset to beat out Dick Dubois, Mr. America 1954 for top spot in the Tall Man's Class.”
Tall
1 Mickey Hargitay (United States)
2 Dick DuBois (United States)
3 John Lees (England)
4 Henry Downs (England)
5 Peter Deakin (England)
5 Ted White (England)
Medium
1 John Penman (New Zealand)
2 Mohamed El Zoe (Syria)
3 Cecil Addison (Jamaica)
4 Tony Hilman (England)
5 Keith Pickering
6 Norman Mann
Short
1 Paul An (Vietnam)
2 Jimmy Stevens (England)
3 Ahmed Khurshid (Pakistan)
4 Reuben Govender (South Africa)
5 Mahmoud Namdjou (Iran)
6 Ernie Coates
Then it was time to announce the overall winner. As Wright reports: “’And finally, Amateur Mr. Universe for 1955 . . . Mickey Hargitay of America.’ The Palladium must never have realized a more enthusiastic audience for any of its world famous variety turns as was the roar which greeted this announcement.”
Then after Mae West saw his photo on a magazine cover, Hargitay joined West's muscleman revue. He met Jane Mansfield in 1956 while he was performing in The Mae West Show at the Latin Quarter. In fact, his first film role came when Jayne Mansfield demanded that he be cast in her movie, Will Success Spoil Rock Hunter? (1957). Though the two fell in love and were described as inseparable. 20th Century Fox did not want Hargitay to appear in Rock Hunter because they disliked Mansfield's view of Hargitay as her "only" lover; Fox preferred their sex symbols to be single. Defying Fox, the couple married on January 13, 1958 and had three children: Miklós, Zoltán, and Mariska
In 1960, Hargitay and Mansfield played the lead roles in the Italian flick The Loves of Hercules. Over the next four years, Hargitay and Mansfield would appear together in Promises! Promises! (1963) and Primitive Love (1964).
Unfortunately, the couple divorced on August 26, 1964, just months after the birth of their daughter, actress Mariska Hargitay. Then in 1965, Hargitay played the lead role in Bloody Pit of Horror without Mansfield.
Two years later Jayne Mansfield died in a car crash on June 29, 1967. Hargitay would sue Mansfield's estate for over $5,000 to support their three children whom he raised.
In April 1968 Hargitay married his third wife, Ellen, a former flight attendant,. By the early 1970s, he abandoned his acting career for a thriving career in contracting and landscaping.
Later, though, Hargitay did act in Hungarian director György Szomjas' 1988 film, Mr. Universe, and then in 2003, Hargitay guest-starred on Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, the series in which his daughter Mariska stars.
After a long life, Hargitay died September 14, 2006, in Los Angeles, California, at 80, from a long bout with multiple myeloma.
