Zsa Zsa a great beauty in her day!
Merv Griffin & Gabor sisters!
(minus 1)
Zsa Zsa Gabor - known for the slap that was heard around the world - is slated to pack up her wigs and make-up bag and purr home today in hubbie's luxury Rolls Royce after a nasty slip-and-fall sent her to the hospital last week for emergency medical care.
Uh-huh!
Though, a rumored 93, Ms. Gabor still manages to capture the imagination of the curious masses around the globe.
Within minutes, Ms. Gabor was a trending topic on twitter, and the rumors and innuendo were in full swing.
Was she, like so many aging Hollywood legends, being held captive by unscrupulous jailors out to scoff up her jewels and rolls of Hollywood studio cash stashed away over the years?
Though basically a recluse - and boasting a Prince for a husband (often spied at Starbucks in WeHo ringside twiddling his thumbs over java) - many fond memories of Gabor's antics brought a smile to the faces of many when the news broke.
"Oh, I remember Zsa Zsa from the Merv Griffen show. And, her sister, Eva," one local quipped to a bystander at Ralph's.
"She was the epitome of glamour," piped up another.
I met her on a movie set once in Hollywood and I recall that she was a swirl of fluffy boas and expensive baubles as she glided by with a posse of fussy handlers in tow.
When a Beverly Hills motorcycle cop pulled her over for a traffic violation a dozen or so years ago in the upscale enclave of Beverly Hills it was headline-grabbing news here and abroad; after all, Zsa Zsa was so incensed by his rude behaviour and reprehensible manners that she roundly slapped him across his handsome mustachioed face.
Many thought she should have maneuvered a date!
Suppose she would have been hauled into the slammer for attempted bribery, eh?
Merv, though scandalized a tad, appeared to applaud her ballsy bravado when she fluttered in to chat him up on the next talk show engagement.
The popular rotund talk show host - though rumored to be in an affair with sister Eva (a beard) was just one of the girls who delighted in a bit of delightful gossip with the infectious Gabor sisters.
The fiery Hungarian was hailed as the first celebrity to be famous solely for her celebrity (thanks to Merv).
Sorry Paris, great auntie Zsa Zsa was light-years ahead of 'ya in that regard.
And, in recent years, Gabor has gained cult culture status for God-awful performances in old sci-fi low-budget thrillers that were plain CAMPY! CAMPY! CAMPY!
At one point, Liz Taylor was poised to become her step-daughter due to a couple of infamous trysts the two celebrated show-biz legends were scandalously involved in with male lovers that nearly hastened the odd-ball connection by virtue of star-crossed paths at the altar.
Zsa Zsa Gabor was born in 1917 (???)
"Probably," biographers have dubiously noted for the record.
The zaftig Gabor girls always did their best to confound the records (and snoopy folks who tried to fathom them) in order to conceal their ages (even their mother's reported date of birth varies by as much as five years give or take a decade or two).
As a young girl, Gabor may have competed in the Miss Hungary contest, or maybe not.
Years later, when Zsa Zsa swore up-and-down that her age was such-and-such, one astute guest nearby - with good arithmetic skills - jumped up and squawked that if that was the case she would have to have entered the infamous beauty contest she often spoke of when she was a nubile twelve or thirteen years of age!
At different times the three Gabor sisters have claimed to have won that pageant, or have been runners-up, with the same ensuing dilemma popping up to dash their efforts to remain younger than their years for reasons of vanity.
Age, lovers, and men have been a constant upset in Zsa Zsa's life to reckon with.
In 1937, Gabor married a Turkish foreign affairs minister considerably older than she was.
After she arrived in Turkey in the arms of her new beau, however, she alleged the marriage was never consumated in order to embark on a new romance with well-connected Kemal Ataturk - the President of Turkey - after she caught his eye.
Shortly thereafter, Gabor divorced her first husband in 1941 when she first arrived in America.
Conrad Hilton (Hilton Hotels) married Zsa Zsa in 1942 unaware that his young bride was a big spender who enjoyed the untold luxuries that life had to offer.
Her wanton excesses forced the Hotelier to place her on a $250-a-week budget which soured their marriage, according to their circle of friends at the time.
Before Conrad's daughter (Francesca) was born, Zsa Zsa had lost interest in the union.
So, when she crossed paths with actor George Sanders, she proceeded to set her sights on the rising star of stage and screen.
However, Gabor remained on 'amicable' terms with Conrad.
Smart gal!
In 1955, he promised Zsa Zsa a special rate at all the Hilton hotels for the rest of her life, such a generous man was he.
After tying the knot with Sanders, Zsa Zsa pined to be an actress.
In due time, she used her influential contacts to land small parts in low-budget films and on Television.
Zsa Zsa lucked out when she landed an important screen role in the 1951 film Moulin Rouge with Jose Ferrer.
However, film director John Huston allegedly kept Zsa Zsa on needles-and-pins when he persisted in constant humiliation tactics in front of the cast and crew, according to sources close to the actress.
Quirkier, more offbeat roles were offered up in 1950s, including a two episode stint on the popular TV show, Batman.
It wasn't below Zsa Zsa to play cameos as herself - which undoubtedly - led to her gathering fame over the years.
In spite of a long-lasting union with Sanders, Zsa Zsa was inclined to pursue a scandalous affair with a Dominican playboy by the name of Porfirio Rubirosa (known for his donkey dick among wealthy socialite ladies he teased and courted) in 1952.
Rubirosa's claim to fame (in addition to being well-hung) was a marriage to Woolworth heiress Barbara Hutton who was allegedly forced to pay princely sums in alimony when he packed his bags and left her for greener pastures.
In 1954, a black eye caused the rumor mill to speculate that the celebrated polo player beat Zsa Zsa, and was the event that triggered their eventual split as Internationally-known lovers.
To the bitter end, Gabor whispered to friends:
"He loves me."
The proud beauty explained it this way.
"Rubirosa in Spanish means red rose, for me it means black eye. A man only hits a woman if he loves her deeply."
Maybe folks will have some sympathy for Mel Gibson after all, eh?
Barbara Hutton
(Woolworth heiress)
