Jayne Mansfield's Last Ride

Jayne Mansfield, also known as "The Poor Man's Marilyn" had hit a lull in her career in the late 1960's.  She took to traveling from city to city and performing in nightclub acts.  On her way from Mississippi to New Orleans for a TV interview, she is said to have stopped off at the famous "White Kitchen Restaurant" near Slidell Louisiana and headed on highway 90 over the Rigolets bridge where her driver ran into the back of a truck and ended the lives of Ms. Mansfield and two others in the front seat with her.  Her three children in the back only had a few scrapes. Two of her Chihuahua's were killed also. You can find more details here http://www.franksreelreviews.com/shorttakes/jaynemansfield.htm.

It's obvious how Jayne got her nickname. They both had some pretty philosophical quotes. "Hollywood is a place where they'll pay you a thousand dollars for a kiss and fifty cents for your soul. ~Marilyn Monroe" 
"Men are those creatures with two legs and eight hands. ~Jayne Mansfield"

 This is an old postcard of the White Kitchen Restaurant

 On a recent vacation I went to the site of the restaurant and this is all that's left.

This is the '66 Buick Electra 225 that Jayne died in.

Jayne's Daughter Mariska Hagartay

I think Jamie (James) King would be a great fit for a biographical film on Ms. Mansfield.

Or the pinup model "Jolee Blon'"  I think they have striking similarities.

 This is about a mile west of the Rigolets Bridge (it's French and pronounced Rig o Leez). According to the coroner's report, this is the site of the crash.

After studying online forums from people who lived in the area, I read that a lot of the roads on HW 90 were re routed around a pond in about 1972. That may explain the lack of turns that Jayne encountered the night she died.

One person on a forum said that you can see the old road where the accident took place. It looks like an exit off the road. If this is it, it was around 4 miles west of the end of the bridge.

About 6 miles west of the bridge, a fan put up a cross. Apparently there was a marker that was lost after the road re route.

This is the very slight curve in the road near the place where the cross stands. From what I saw, the most logical point of the accident happened near the road that was re routed, unless it truly was just an exit. I don't see that the coroner's report would be wrong on such a high profile case but it just doesn't seem plausible. It could also be because the roads are so different today.

This is a picture of my grandfather's Buick Electra 225. It handled like a tank. It was also referred to as a "Deuce and a quarter" because of the 225.