Glamorous socialite and actress Zsa Zsa Gabor died in Los Angeles at the age of 99 on Sunday of a heart attack according to her husband, Frederic von Anhalt. “We tried everything, but her heart just stopped and that was it,” he said. “Even the ambulance tried very hard to get her back, but there was no way.”
Gabor’s health started to decline in her 80s after she had hip surgery. She was admitted to the hospital because of blood clots were found in her body, which eventually led to her leg being partially amputated. She suffered a stroke in 2005 after an accident left her partial paralyzed.
The Hungarian was well-known for her jet-setting lifestyle and multiple marriages. She was married to several men during her lifetime since 1937. These included hotelier Conrad Hilton, actor George Sanders, Jack Ryan (Barbie doll creator), businessman Herbert businessman Herbert Hutner, oil tycoon Joshua Cosden and lawyer Michael O’Hara. “I think breeds of dogs and breeds of men are quite a bit alike. If you think it’s insulting that I compare people with animals, well, if you knew how I love animals, you would understand that coming from me, this is a compliment.”
She finally settled down with Anhalt in 1986.
Gabor appeared in 70 films and was the star of “Green Acres.” She starred in “Moulin Rouge” and in “A Touch Of Evil.” In the late 1980s and 1990s, she made appearances in “The Beverly Hillbillies” and “The Naked Gun 2 ½.” she also wrote 3 books. How to Keep a Man, How to Catch a Man and How to Get Rid of a Man. “One of my theories is that men love with their eyes; women love with their ears,” she wrote. Her personal life and the tabloids are what many will remember her for. In 1989 she punched a cop in Beverly Hills. She was actually fined and ordered to jail for 3 days for breaking her probation.
She later admitted that Hilton was the only one that she married for money. “In the divorce settlement, she received $35,000 and $2,500 a month until she remarried. That union linked her by marriage to tabloid favorite Paris Hilton, Conrad’s great-granddaughter,” the Los Angeles Times reported.
Gabor was born in Budapest, Hungary. She began acting in her youth before moving to America in 1941. She entered the Miss Hungary contest and won at the age of 15. However, she decided to get married and refused to go back to boarding school. Her sister talked about the glitz of Hollywood and this enticed Gabor to start acting. But she did reminisce about her homeland.
The family led a life filled with grace and charm. There were vacations at our house on the shores of Lake Balaton, excursions in our Mercedes, parties glittering with beautiful women and dashing men, waltzing together under the flickering light of our crystal chandeliers.”
Gabor said that she all her life she was a positive thinker. This helped her survive. “I have always been able to survive by telling myself that no matter how bad things are, they will one day be better. And that out of every event, no matter how tragic, one can always find a way to survive and even, perhaps, to be a little bit happy.”
Oh, “dahling!” Yes, that is Gabor’s way of saying “darling.”
Goodbye, Zsa Zsa for now!