Jayne Mansfield's involvement with the occult and its shocking aftermath is one of Tinseltown's most sensationalistic legends. Mansfield had always had an interest in the occult, and this fascination intensified in 1966, when she met late Church of Satan founder Anton Szandor LaVey. Mansfield was in the midst of several personal problems, and perhaps she thought that the satanic church would be able to help. In addition to a bitter custody struggle for her children with her third husband Matt Cimber, Mansfield was being swindled and blackmailed by her abusive lawyer, Sam Brody. According to some, it was her relationship with Brody that was to become her downfall. When Mansfield joined the Church of Satan in 1966, Brody loudly protested and made a nuisance out of himself to both his client and to LaVey. Brody had a habit of interrupting services and touching items used in satanic rituals. According to LaVey, Brody got so out-of-hand that the police were summoned to handle him on several occasions. After a threatening phone call made to him by Brody, LaVey decided that he'd had enough and placed a curse on him, telling the lawyer that he only had a year to live. LaVey did not, however, place it on Mansfield herself, even going so far as to say that she was a member of the Church of Satan in good standing at the time of her death. Nevertheless, shortly after the curse was cast, both Mansfield and Brody were involved in a serious car accident that totaled their vehicle and nearly claimed their lives. About a month later, Mansfield and her five-year-old son Zoltan were visiting Thousand Oaks' Jungleland when an unprovoked lion jumped and mauled the child. Zoltan survived, and Mansfield later credited his recovery to a theatrical ritual performed by LaVey atop Mt. Tamalpais. Nevertheless, Mansfield was hit by a streak of misfortune, including allegations of child abuse by her daughter, Jayne Marie.

Fair Warning! What follows is a graphic description of the manner in which Jane Mansfield was killed. If you don't wish to read of the account, either skip over or turn back now.

The curse took its final toll on the night of June 29, 1967. While traveling to New Orleans via U.S. Highway 90, Brody's sedan collided with a parked truck. Despite reports to the contrary, Mansfield was not decapitated in the crash - witnesses to the accident actually saw a wig, not her head.
Nonetheless, both Mansfield and Brody were killed instantly. Although the Official Coronor's Report stated that she had died of "crushed skull with avulsion (forcible separation or detachment) of cranium and brain", which brings to mind decapitation, it would be more accurate to say that she had basically been scalped.

Since then, strange occurrences have happened at Mansfield's Bel Air home, the Pink Palace. Built during the 1920's, Mansfield had the structure painted pink, her trademark color. For many years after her death, the pink paint was problematic for owners who wanted the house a different color; no matter how many times it was repainted with a sealer, the Pink Palace would always revert back to it's gaudy, pink hue. Eventually, one of the subsequent owners was successful in repainting the house. But the weird phenomenon didn't stop there. A certificate declaring Mansfield a priestess in the Church of Satan mysteriously appeared on her bedroom wall. Some of the tenants of the Pink Palace met untimely deaths, including sixties singing star, "Mama" Cass Elliot. In addition, owners and guests have felt the presence of the dead star on the property. Objects within the house have been known to move by themselves, and a painter working in Mansfield's former room heard unearthly moaning and felt something touch his shoulder. Witnesses have reported seeing the ghost of Mansfield, clad in a bikini, relaxing near her heart-shaped pool. Singer Engelbert Humperdinck and Donald O'Connor once saw Mansfield's apparition descending the staircase. The Pink Palace, formerly located at 10100 Sunset Boulevard in Beverly Hills, was demolisted in 1997. According to her husband, Mickey Hargitay, "The house died when Jayne died."

May Mann, a columnist who was working on a biography of Jayne and had all but the last few chapters finished at the time of Jayne's death, told of numerous visits from Jayne's ghost while the last chapters were being written. Mann was repeatedly urged to complete the biography. Jayne's ghostly voice insisted that she wanted the world to know "the truth about me and my life". On another occasion, Ms. Mann locked themanuscript up for the night. No one else had access to it. Yet, when she took it out in the morning to resume writing, she was horrified to find blood splattered between nearly all of the pages! This occured during the time that she was writing about Jayne's fatal accident.

Update: In 1997, in spite of the outcry from Hollywood Historians and fans of Jayne Mansfield, the Pink Palace, Jayne's beloved pink painted mansion was demolished.