Zsa Zsa Gabor

About Zsa Zsa Gabor

Okay, let us face facts squarely. Zsa Zsa Gabor basically *defined* the term "famous for being famous." Her legacy lives on today mainly for her first name--which is fun to both say and write--her more-famous sister Eva (1919-1995) who had serious TV credits primarily from GREEN ACRES, and her even older, yet-more-famous-simply-for-being-famous sister Magda. (1915-1997) To be fair, however, she did act in such cinematic masterpieces as QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE, WON TON THE DOG WHO SAVED HOLLYWOOD, and FRANKENSTEIN'S GREAT AUNT TILLIE (none of which I simply made up). More seriously, she appeared in such early-50s fare as LILI, WE'RE NOT MARRIED!, LOVELY TO LOOK AT, and a pre-Kidman version of MOULIN ROUGE--though seldom in starring roles. She also performed numerous television cameos, often as herself, and authored or co-authored a number of books.

Born Sari Gabor in 1917, in what was then Austria-Hungary, the middle Gabor catapulted to fame as a result of becoming second runner-up in the 1933 Miss Hungary pageant; She began her stage career in 1934 and emigrated to the U.S. in 1941. There, she and her sisters hit U.S. shores like a tsunami, instantly filling society pages and gossip columns. As one observer put it, "It was as if they'd been dropped out of the sky." All were known for their extravagant lifestyles and glamorous personalities, as well as their exotic--and somehow sensual--thick-as-goulash Hungarian accents. Zsa Zsa in particular gained fame partly as a result of her many, many, oh so very many marriages--9 in total--to a variety of husbands. These included the hotel magnate Conrad Hilton and the actor George Sanders. Probably these multiple marriages had an impact on at least one of her writing credits: HOW TO CATCH A MAN, HOW TO KEEP A MAN, AND HOW TO GET RID OF A MAN. (So far as I can tell, this is actually a single work; I can find no instance of them being sold as separate titles and later "compiled".).

Zsa Zsa herself famously said that she chose her men; "I do not permit men to choose me." (She had a number of Mae West-like, flirtatious-sounding quips, based on her many marriages and "love 'em and leave 'em" reputation. She said of her housekeeping abilities, "Every time I leave a man, I keep his house." Or, when asked how many husbands she'd had, she replied, "You mean, other than my own?" Then there was her dry comment that "I never hated a man enough to give him his diamonds back."

All the Gabor sisters developed a certain public persona, but Zsa Zsa's was perhaps the most so: bubbly and flirtations, rather over-the-top, and inclined to call any given addressee "dahling." All just part of the brand.

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Miscellaneous: She once declined a chance to play Lady Chatterly (from LADY CHATTERLY'S LOVER) as she deemed the role too controversial.

It was Zsa Zsa who proposed to her first husband. (I haven't found references to this with regard to the others.)

She was a frequent TV guest in such diverse fare as IT'S GARRY SHANDLING'S SHOW, THE HOLLYWOOD SQUARES, the Dean Martin roasts, GILLIGAN'S ISLAND, Bob Hope specials, and so on. She became the last "guest villain" on the BATMAN series, as Minerva, when the show was cancelled. She even had cameo roles in THE BEVERLY HILLBILLIES (1993) and A VERY BRADY SEQUEL (1996)--so clearly her presence was in frequent (if not necessarily long) demand.

"Zsa Zsa" Gabor was arrested in 1989 for slapping a Beverly Hills cop in the face (not Eddie Murphy, alas) during a fairly routine traffic stop, for which she received 3 days in jail and was sentenced to community service. This factoid has always amused me, because I can easily envision her walking along the highway in one of those big old minks, with a trash-stabber and a garbage bag. (Alas, her actual service was more trivial and harder to punchline, although it involved turkeys.) HOWEVER, in the course of the trial Zsa Zsa incurred the officer's additional wrath, and a civil suit for defamation-of-character based on some of her comments. (That suit was later settled out of court, in 1991). Much later, she auctioned off the "slap dress" she'd been wearing that day to help meet medical expenses, and fetched a pretty penny for it.

BTW she is actually wearing a mink in her mug shot.

In her declining years, Sari wanted to return to Budapest and live out her remaining time in her native country, but became unable to due to failing health. Her then-husband (widower) later had her remains moved there in accordance with her wishes. (This happened all the way back in 2021.)

Though the daughter of Jews, Zsa Zsa herself was a practicing Catholic.

Her last husband was a European prince who basically bought his title. He and Zsa Zsa then adopted 10 adult men to serve as his royal descendants!

Zsa Zsa had only one child--and was the only Gabor sister ever to have any. This was Constance Francesca Hilton, born in 1947. While she was married to Conrad Hilton at the time, she claimed the child was the result of rape. This daughter died in 2015 from a stroke, but her husband never told Zsa Zsa out of concern for her physical and emotional health.

Sari (aka "Zsa Zsa") was born to the son of a soldier and an heiress to a lucrative jewelry business.

While Zsa Zsa and Eva looked enough alike to be twins, Zsa Zsa was actually 2 years older. (Magda was the eldest, and bore them no great resemblance.)

Some of Zsa Zsa's other author (and co-author) credits include ONE LIFETIME IS NOT ENOUGH, FINDING ZSA ZSA, and a novel (!) co-written in 1994 with Victoria Wolf: EVERY MAN FOR HIMSELF.

(to be continued, possibly)