Jayne Mansfield in Houston (1963)

Duration: 2:03

Year Published: 1963

Sound: sound

Description: This television news segment from Houston’s KPRC-TV captures Hollywood actress Jayne Mansfield arriving at the Houston International Airport with her two pet chihuahuas on July 29, 1963. The welcoming party gifts Mansfield with a bouquet of flowers and a pair of personalized cowboy boots. In the subsequent interview, Mansfield coyly talks about how she plays down her years of college education in order to maintain her status as a sex symbol. She also answers questions about her hairdo, which she identifies as an “Italian flip.” Mansfield was likely in Houston to promote her new film, Promises! Promises!, which opened on August 15. Much of the its publicity centered on Mansfield and her nude scenes—the first to feature a mainstream star during Hollywood’s sound era. Mansfield also posed for an eight-page spread in Playboy Magazine released the previous month. Some parts of the film are silent, and would have been voiced over by the anchorperson during a live broadcast.