Zsa Zsa Gábor born Sári Gábor (born February 6, 1917) is a Hungarian-American actress
and socialite.
Biography
Early life
Gábor, the second of three daughters, was born Sári Gábor in Budapest, daughter of
Jolie Gabor (née Tilleman), a manager, and
Vilmos Gábor, a soldier.[1] She had two sisters, Magda and Éva, actresses and socialites. Gabor's mother was born
Jewish and was related to Annette Tillemann, the wife of politician Tom
Lantos.[2] Gabor was named after the then top
Hungarian actress Sári Fedák, also called Zsa Zsa because her daughter was unable to pronounce
the name Sári, which is Magyar (the indigenous Hungarian language) for Sarah. (The Gábors's family name is Magyar for Gabriel;
hence, "Sári Gábor," her real name, is Magyar for "Sarah Gabriel.") Following studies at a Swiss boarding-school Gábor won the
Miss Hungary beauty contest in 1936, but was disqualified for being underage. 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 rôle in his new operetta
Der singende Traum ("The Singing Dream") at the Theater an der Wien, her first stage appearance. At the time she had a
romance with a composer named Willi Schmidt-Kentner, according to the 1960 "bio-autobiography" Zsa Zsa Gábor, by Gerold
Frank.
Personal life
Gabor has been married nine times. She was divorced seven times, and one marriage was annulled. Her husbands, in chronological
order, are:
In 1974 Gabor bought her two-story and basement Bel Air home with an eccentric-looking French roof, built by Howard Hughes, from Elvis Presley. There is a magnificent view of
Los Angeles from the pool area. She was not married at the time of the purchase
making it possible, according to Zsa Zsa, to add a three-tiered closet thirty feet long, twelve feet wide, and fourteen feet
high. The closet contained over 5,000 garments that were sorted through and given to charities, with the exception of her
classically designed gowns, every one to two years—about 30,000 dollars worth of designer clothing every year.[citations needed]
Gabor is the only Gábor sister to bear a child. According to Gabor's book One Lifetime Is Not Enough her pregnancy
resulted from her being raped by Conrad Hilton. Hilton and Gabor's only child, born after their divorce, is Francesca Hilton (Gabor) born 10 March 1947. In 2005, Zsa Zsa accused her daughter, Francesca, of larceny and fraud, and filed a lawsuit against her in a
California court.[3]
In the late 1950s, Zsa Zsa had dinner with Frank Sinatra at LaRue's on the Sunset Strip
and spent only one romantic evening with him.
Gabor 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 he
married Barbara Hutton (for seventy-three days) and then renewed his relationship with Zsa Zsa. Zsa Zsa claims that Rubirosa
proposed to her every time he could, and would change the subject when she refused. She just wouldn't budge. They had a four-year
relationship and were at one time engaged. Technically, Zsa Zsa broke the engagement when "Rubi" claimed he would break the
engagement if she took a part in the movie Death of a Scoundrel which starred her ex-husband George Sanders.
Gabor's initial fame came from her work as an actress, and grew from her public appearances in the 1970s and 1980s.
Legal difficulties
The 1989 mugshot of Zsa Zsa Gabor.
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.[4] She was found guilty of the assault
in a well-publicized trial and sentenced to three days (72 hours) in the El
Segundo jail--and the judge 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. According to the Rotten Library, "Gabor later complain[ed] that she was denied a jury of her peers, saying 'It was not my
class of people. There was not a producer, a press agent, a director, an actor.'"[5]
Gabor poked fun at her role in the incident in various cameo appearances:
- In the 1991 film The Naked Gun
2 1/2: The Smell of Fear, Zsa Zsa 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: she claimed that the officer had slapped her in what was described as a "drive-by slapping."
- In A Very Brady Sequel: she gloated upon the publicity she earned from
the incident.
- In the November 18, 1991, season 2, installment 10 of
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air: when Carlton accidentally slapped a cop
when trying to slap his cousin Will, Zsa Zsa replied by saying, "I have witnesses, it wasn't me." Hilary subsequently asked,
"There's something that I'm just dying to know." Zsa Zsa responded by saying, "Yes, I did it...and he deserved to be
slapped."
Recent health
Gabor was a passenger in an automobile accident that occurred on November 27, 2002. She was initially reported, incorrectly, as being in a
coma: she was conscious by the time medical assistance arrived. She left the hospital in early
January 2003 but required continued physical therapy. She sued, and was awarded $2 million.
On July 7, 2005, Gabor 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 and was said to be making a good recovery.
In early September of 2007, Gabor underwent surgery to deal with after-effects of her previous stroke. On September 18 2007 Gabor underwent successful surgery to treat a leg infection
which developed as a result of her immobility.[1]
Appearances
Films
(Incomplete list)
- 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)
- 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)
- Smart Alec (Wilson, 1986)
- A Nightmare on Elm Street 3: Dream Warriors
(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)
- The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear (Zucker,
1991) (cameo)
- The Naked Truth (Mastorakis, 1992)
- Est & Ouest: Les paradis perdus ("East & West: Paradises Lost") (Rival, 1993)
- Happily Ever After (Howley, 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 work
(Incomplete list. Gabor has made hundreds of television appearances.)
Plays
(Incomplete list. Gabor has starred in several plays.)
Bibliography
- Zsa Zsa Gábor, 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 Gábor, 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
References
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External links
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