– has died just weeks short of her 100th birthday, her publicist announced
today.
Gabor was born in Budapest, won the Miss Hungary crown in 1936, and
emigrated to the United States where she embarked on movie career that mostly
saw her in B-movies. Married nine times, she gained her most-recent fame when
she slapped a Beverly Hills police officer in the face during a traffic stop in
1989.
She had been in declining health, and the subject of a court battle
between her ninth husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, and her daughter,
Francesca Hilton, who died last year at age 67 from a stroke.
She was born Sari Gabor in Budapest on Feb. 17, 1917, and reached the
apex of her career directed by John Ford in the 1952 musical “Moulin Rouge.”
Along with her sister, Eva Gabor, Zsa Zsa Gabor was a staple of game
shows, talk shows and guest TV spots in the 1950s through ’70s. She was — some
said — a forerunner of the Kardashians — famous for being famous.
Zsa Zsa gabor was married nine times, with seven divorces and one
annulment, to Burhan Asaf Belge, Conrad Hilton, George Sanders, Herbert Hunter,
Joshua S. Cosden Jr., Jack Ryan, Michael O’hara, Felkipe de Alba (the one
annulment) and then von Anhalt, in 1986.
Von Anhalt was famous for throwing massive birthday parties for his
wife, which continued until recent years, even though Gabor was bedridden and
could not attend.
In 1989, Beverly Hills police officer Paul Kramer stopped Gabor for a
traffic violation on Olympic Boulevard, and discovered an open flask of whiskey
in the front seat. She slapped him, a jury found.
Gabor served three days in jail after refusing to perform community
service.
No services have been announced.
