Zsa Zsa Gabor passed away at the age of 99 on Sunday. She and her sisters, Eva Gabor and Magda Gabor, were famous socialites known for their glamorous and lavish lifestyle.
Actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor passed away at the age of 99 in her home. Her husband, Frédéric Prinz Von Anhalt confirmed that she suffered from a heart attack. Zsa Zsa Gabor was the middle Gabor sister. The three were socialites known for their many marriages, jewelry, rich Hungarian accents, and lavish lifestyles. The Gabor Sisters were famous in the 1950s the way the Kardashian sisters are today. These sisters, with a larger-than-life persona, were so interesting that we searched and found out more about them. Here’s everything you need to know about Zsa Zsa Gabor and her sisters.
They Emigrated from Hungary to the U.S. during World War II
The Gabor sisters were born in Hungary to Vilmos Gabor, a Hungarian army major and Jolie Gabor, a jeweler and memoirist. Their eldest child, Magda Gabor was born in 1915, Zsa Zsa Gabor was born in 1917, and the youngest, Eva Gabor, was born in 1919. In Hungary, Magda Gabor briefly worked as an actress before the war. Jolie Gabor moved to America in December 1945, after escaping Hungary in 1944,
During WWII, Magda Gabor was involved with Carlos Sampaio Garrido, the Portuguese ambassador to Hungary. The exact nature of their relationship was not known, as some reports claim they were engaged, some said they had an affair, and others said that she was merely the ambassador’s aide. With Garrido’s help, she escaped to Portugal during the Nazi occupation of Budapest. Magda Gabor was romantically involved with a Spanish nobleman and built her extensive connections. It was with the help of her connections that her mother was able to escape Hungary. Magda Gabor arrived to the U.S. in 1946 from Brazil and within a year, married an American and acquired citizenship.
Magda Gabor had built her connections with influential people well. Though she had helped her mother and middle sister out of Hungary, it took her a long time to make it to America. Eva Gabor was the first Gabor to reach the United States. The exact date isn’t known, but she likely emigrated shortly after her marriage to Swedish osteopath, Eric Drimmer in 1939, when she 20 years old.
The Gabor Sisters are Famous for Serial Matrimony
Magda, Zsa Zsa, and Eva Gabor were more famous for their multiple marriages than their work. Magda Gabor was married six times, Eva Gabor five times, and Zsa Zsa Gabor nine times (or eight if you exclude her day-long marriage that was annulled). British actor, George Sanders, was Zsa Zsa Gabor’s third husband, and after their divorce, he later married Magda Gabor.
Though a successful actress, Zsa Zsa was mostly famous because of her nine husbands: Burhan Asaf Belge, Conrad Hilton, George Sanders, Herbert Hutner, Joshua S. Cosden, Jr., Jack Ryan, Michael O’Hara, Felipe de Alba, and Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt. Her marriage with Anhalt was the longest, and he was there with her during her final moments.
Zsa Zsa Gabor’s marriage to Conrad Hilton, the founder of the Hilton hotel chain and Paris Hilton’s grandfather, was wrought with controversies. They had a daughter, Constance Francesca Hilton, who died of a stroke in 2015. Zsa Zsa was the only Gabor sister to have a child. After Zsa Zsa Gabor’s death, there is no successor to the Gabor line.
Eva Gabor divorced her first husband, Eric Drimmer, claiming that he didn’t want to have children. Her subsequent husbands were wealthy men. Charles Isaacs was an investment broker, John Elbert Williams a plastic surgeon, Richard Brown was a textile manufacturer turned writer and director, and Frank Gard Jameson Sr. was an aerospace executive and former vice president of Rockwell International. Eva Gabor was stepmother to Jameson’s four children.
Magda Gabor was married to a Polish count. She was also married to the screenwriter of The Harvey Girls, William Rankin. Her third husband, Sidney Warren, was an attorney, and husband number four was Arthur Gallucci, the president of Samuel Gallucci and Sons. Her fifth husband was Zsa Zsa Gabor’s ex-husband, George Sanders. Her sixth husband was the real estate broker, Tibor L. Heltai.
Eva was a Successful Actress
Though Magda Gabor appeared in a few films, it was her two sisters who were bitten by the acting bug. Eva Gabor’s first movie in the U.S. was Paramount Pictures’ Forced Landing in 1941. She also had small roles in movies like The Last Time I Saw Paris, starring Elizabeth Taylor, and Artists and Models, which featured Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.
In 1953, Eva Gabor got her own talk show called The Eva Gabor Show which only ran for one season. Over the years, she did many film and television appearances, including My Man Godfrey, Gigi, and It Started with a Kiss. However, she made her mark as an actress with the sitcom Green Acres on CBS. Gabor’s character as Lisa Douglas was immortalized. She also had a stint on Broadway, and as a voice actor for a few Disney movies. She also launched her own clothing line.
The Gabor Sisters Were Known for Their Accent
The Gabor sisters earned a cult-following as glamour icons by their larger-than-life personalities. Their persona was based on their serial matrimony, their love for diamonds, and their rich accents. Zsa Zsa Gabor even admitted about her sisters in their illustrated coffee-table book, Gaborabilia, that “They had these wonderful accents which they all but went to teachers to make sure they didn’t lose.”
Some people may not know this, but when a prim and bejeweled socialite character is portrayed saying “darling,” it is very likely a nod to Zsa Zsa Gabor. The middle Gabor sister would refer to everyone as “Dahlink” in her luxuriant Hungarian accent. Zsa Zsa Gabor, who became known for her one-line quips, admitted, “I call everyone ‘Darling’ because I can’t remember their names.”
Sources:
https://goo.gl/Z5KG1D
