Zsa Zsa Gabor Explained

Zsa Zsa Gabor (; born February 6 1917) is a Hungarian-born American actress and socialite.

Early life

Zsa Zsa Gabor was born as Sári Gábor (reportedly named after a famed Hungarian actress, Sári Fedák) in Budapest (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire), the middle daughter of Vilmos Gábor, a soldier, and Jolie Gábor.^[1] Her sisters, Magda and Eva, also became actresses and socialites. Their mother, Jolie (née Jancsi Tilleman), was of Jewish descent, and was related to Annette Tilleman, the wife of California politician Tom Lantos.^[2] Following studies at a Swiss boarding-school, Madame Subilia's, Gabor competed in the Miss Hungary beauty contest in 1936, but was disqualified for being underage (according to her mother's biography). On a trip to Vienna in the same year, she was discovered by the famous tenor Richard Tauber and was invited to sing the soubrette role in his new operetta Der singende Traum ("The Singing Dream") at the Theater an der Wien, her first stage appearance. Gaborreportedly had a romance with a composer named Willi Schmidt-Kentner, according to the 1960 "bio-autobiography" Zsa Zsa Gábor, My Story, written by Gabor with Gerold Frank. Her initial fame came from her work as an actress, and grew from her public appearances in the 1970s and 1980s.

Personal life

Gabor has been married nine times. She was divorced seven times, and one marriage was annulled. Her husbands, in chronological order, are:

• Burhan Asaf Belge (1937 – 1941) (divorced)
• Conrad Hilton (April 10 1942 – 1947) (divorced)
• George Sanders (April 2 1949 – April 2 1954) (divorced)
• Herbert Hutner (November 5 1962 – March 3 1966) (divorced)
• Joshua S. Cosden, Jr. (March 9 1966 – October 18 1967) (divorced)
• Jack Ryan (January 21 1975 – August 24, 1976) (divorced)
• Michael O'Hara (August 27 1976 – 1983) (divorced)
• Felipe de Alba (April 13, 1983 – April 14 1983) (annulled)
• Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt (August 14 1986 to present)

In 1974, she purchased from Elvis Presley a two-story Bel Air home with an eccentric-looking French roof, built by Howard Hughes.^[3]

Zsa Zsa was the only sister to bear a child. According to her 1991 autobiography One Lifetime Is Not Enough, her pregnancy resulted from being raped by then-husband Conrad Hilton.^[4] Her only child is daughter Francesca Hilton (born March 10 1947).

In 2005, Gabor accused her daughter Francesca of larceny and fraud, alleging that her daughter forged her signature to get a $2 million loan on her mother's Bel Air house, and filed a lawsuit against Francesca in a California court.^[5]

In the late 1950s, Gabor had dinner with Frank Sinatra at LaRue's on the Sunset Strip and spent a "forced" romantic evening with him, also according to One Lifetime Is Not Enough. She also had a relationship with Porfirio Rubirosa, a noted Dominican international playboy and sometime diplomat. She refused to leave George Sanders to marry Rubirosa, whereupon Rubirosa married Barbara Hutton (for 53 days) and then renewed his relationship with Gabor, who claimed that Rubirosa proposed to her every time he could, and would change the subject when she refused. They had a four-year relationship and were at one time engaged. Gabor essentially broke the engagement when she took a part in the movie Death of a Scoundrel (1956), which starred her ex-husband George Sanders, over Rubirosa's intense objections.

Legal difficulties

On June 14 1989, Gabor was accused of slapping the face of a Beverly Hills police officer named Paul Kramer when he stopped her for a traffic violation.^[6] She was found guilty of the assault in a well-publicized trial and sentenced to three days (72 hours) in the El Segundo jail. The judge also required her to pay $13,000 in court costs. She testified that her behavior had been provoked by the officer, who she said had behaved extremely rudely and insulted her with obscenities. This fiasco was published in the documentary, The People vs. Zsa Zsa Gabor, without her consent.

She poked fun at her role in the incident in various cameo appearances:

• In the 1991 film , Gabor was pulled over by the police car at the end of the opening credits. She then proceeded to step out of the car and slap the red light, then walked away, muttering, "Ach, this happens every fucking time when I go shopping."
• In the 1993 film version of The Beverly Hillbillies, Gabor claimed that the officer had slapped her in what was described as a "drive-by slapping."
• In A Very Brady Sequel, she was shown enjoying the notoriety she derived from the incident.
• In the November 18 1991, season 2, episode 10 of The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, when Gabor showed up as a guest at the Banks' residence, Hilary Banks asked, "There's something that I'm just dying to know." Gabor responded by saying, "Yes, I did it ... and he deserved to be slapped." Subsequently, when Carlton Banks accidentally slapped a cop with a pair of gloves while trying to slap his cousin Will Smith, Gabor replied by saying, "I have witnesses, it wasn't me."
• She discussed the incident in an appearance on Howard Stern's show, making her the oldest celebrity to appear on Stern's program. She also debunked rumours of George Sanders' sexuality, which Stern called into question.

Gabor also had a long-running feud with Elke Sommer that culminated in a libel suit.^[7]

Recent health

Gabor was a passenger in an automobile accident that occurred on November 27 2002. She was initially reported as being in a coma when she was actually conscious at the time medical assistance arrived. She left the hospital in early January 2003, but required continued physical therapy. Gabor sued and was awarded $2 million.

On July 7 2005, she suffered a massive stroke, leaving her in critical condition at a local hospital. She underwent surgery to remove a blockage in her carotid artery. She returned home on July 15. In early September 2007, she underwent surgery to deal with after-effects of her previous stroke. On September 18 2007, aged 90, she underwent surgery to treat a leg infection, which developed as a result of her immobility.^[8]

Financial problems 2009

On January 25, 2009, The Associated Press reported that attorney Chris Fields has stated that forensic accountants have determined that as much as $10 million may have been lost by Gabor when it was invested with accused swindler Bernard Madoff, possibly through a third-party money manager.^{[9] [10]}

Filmography

• Lovely to Look At (LeRoy, 1952)
• We're Not Married (Goulding, 1952)
• Moulin Rouge (Huston, 1952)
• The Million Dollar Nickel (1952) (short subject)
• The Story of Three Loves (Minnelli, 1953)
• Lili (Walters, 1953)
• L'ennemi public no.1 ("The Most Wanted Man") (Verneuil, 1953)
• Sangre y luces ("Love in a Hot Climate") (Rouquier/Suey, 1954)
• Ball der Nationen ("Ball of the Nations") (Ritter, 1954)
• 3 Ring Circus (Pevney, 1954)
• Death of a Scoundrel (Martin, 1956)
• The Girl in the Kremlin (Birdwell, 1957)
• The Man Who Wouldn't Talk (Wilcox, 1958)
• Country Music Holiday (Ganzer, 1958)
• Touch of Evil (Welles, 1958) (as a "guest star")
• Queen of Outer Space (Bernds, 1958)
• For the First Time (Maté, 1959)
• La contessa azzurra ("The Blue Countess") (Gora, 1960)
• Pepe (Sidney, 1960) (Cameo)
• Lykke og krone (Helander/Sælen, 1962) (documentary)
• The Road to Hong Kong (Panama, 1962) (unbilled cameo)
• Boys' Night Out (Gordon, 1962)
• Picture Mommy Dead (Gordon, 1966)
• Drop Dead Darling (1966)
• Arrivederci, Baby! (Hughes, 1966)
• Jack of Diamonds (Taylor, 1967) (cameo)
• Up the Front (Kellett, 1972)
• Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood (Winner, 1976)
• Every Girl Should Have One (Hyatt, 1978)
• Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (Gold, 1984)
• Charlie Barnett's Terms of Enrollment (1986)
• Smart Alec (Wilson, 1986)
• (Russell, 1987) (cameo)
• Johann Strauß: Der König ohne Krone ("Johann Strauss: The King Without a Crown") (Antel, 1987)
• "The People vs. Zsa Zsa Gabor" (1991) (documentary)
• (Zucker, 1991) (cameo)
• The Naked Truth (Mastorakis, 1992)
• Est & Ouest: Les paradis perdus ("East & West: Paradises Lost") (Rival, 1993)
• Happily Ever After (Blossom, 1993) (voice only)
• The Beverly Hillbillies (Spheeris, 1993) (cameo)
• A Very Brady Sequel (Sanford, 1996) (cameo)
• "The Gabors: Fame, Fortune and Romance" (2000) (documentary)

Television

• "The Red Skelton Show" (1955), as Movie Star
• "Climax" (1955), as Mme. Florizel, Princess Stephanie
• "The Milton Berle Show" (1956)
• "Sneak Preview" (1956)
• "The Ford Television Theatre" (1956), as Dara Szabo
• "General Electric Theater" (1956-1961), as Gloria
• "Matinee Theatre" (1956-1958), as Eugenia
• "The Life of Riley" (1957), as Gigi
• "Playhouse 90" (1957), as Erika Segnitz, Marta Lorenz
• "Shower of Stars" (1958)
• "Lux Playhouse" (1959), as Helen
• "Ninotchka" (1960)
• "Make Room for Daddy" (1960), as Lisa Laslow
• "The Dick Powell Show" (1963), Girl
• "Burke's Law" (1963-1964), as Anna, the Maid
• "Bob Hope Presents the Chrysler Theatre" (1965), Pilot
• "Gilligan's Island" (1965), as Erika Tiffany Smith
• Alice in Wonderland or What's a Nice Kid Like You Doing in a Place Like This? (1966), as The Queen of Hearts (voice)
• The Rounders (1966), as Ilona Hobson in "The Scavenger Hunt"
• "F Troop" (1966), as Marika
• "Bonanza" (1967), as Madame Marova
• "The Name of the Game" (1968), as Mira Retzyk
• "Batman" (1968), as Minerva
• "Bracken's World" (1969), Cameo
• "Mooch Goes to Hollywood" (1971), as Narrator
• "Night Gallery" (1971), as Mrs. Moore
• Let's Make a Deal (1976) (playing for a home viewer)
• "3 Girls 3" (1977)
• "Supertrain" (1979), as Audrey
• "The Love Boat" (1980), as Annette
• Hollywood, ich komme (1980), as Stargast
• "The Facts of Life" (1981), as world-renowned beautician Countess Calvet
• "As the World Turns" (cast member in 1981), as Lydia Marlowe
• "Matt Houston" (1983)
• "California Girls" (1985)
• "Charlie Barnett's Terms of Enrollment" (1986)
• "Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special" (1988)
• City(1990), Oil Tanker
• "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" (1991), as Sonya Lamor
• "The Late Show with David Letterman" (1994), as herself in a sketch

Plays

Gabor appeared in several plays, most notably Forty Carats on Broadway and Blithe Spirit, as Elvira in the off-broadway national tour.

Bibliography

• Zsa Zsa Gabor, My Story Written for Me by Gerold Frank, The World Publishing Company, 1960.
• How to Catch a Man, How to Keep a Man, and How to Get Rid of a Man, by Zsa Zsa Gabor, Doubleday, 1970.
• One Lifetime Is Not Enough, by Zsa Zsa Gabor, assisted by, edited by, and put into proper English by Wendy Leigh, Delacorte Press, 1991. ISBN 0-385-29882-X
• Gaborabilia, by Anthony Turtu and Donald F Reuter, Three Rivers Press, 2001. ISBN 0-609-80759-5

External links

• • • Gabor family's website

Notes and References

1. http://www.filmreference.com/film/29/Zsa-Zsa-Gabor.html Zsa Zsa Gabor Biography
2. http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2007/01/01/MNGBDNB8MF1.DTL&type=printable Lantos the master storyteller, communicator
3. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/film/4609597.stm BBC report on Gabor
4. http://www.vanityfair.com/fame/features/2007/10/zsazsa200710?currentPage=2 Vanity Fair review of Gabor's book
5. http://www.news24.com/News24/AnanziArticle/0,6935,2-1343-1345_1728964,00.html "Zsa Zsa says daughter stole $2m"
6. http://www.mugshots.net/zsa_zsa_gabor Mugshots.net
7. Pool, Bob (December 9, 1993). $3.3-Million Libel Award in Sommer-Gabor Feud. Los Angeles Times
8. http://www.courant.com/features/lifestyle/columnists/hce-nujava0920.artsep20,0,835075.column?coll=hc_home_xpromo Report on Zsa Zsa Gabor's health
9. http://www.cnbc.com/id/28847266/for/cnbc/
10. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5590788.ece "Gabor's Husband Says They Lost $10 Million Due to Madoff", The Times (UK) Online (January 26, 2009)