8th July 1952/ Hungarian actress Zsa Zsa Gabor lounges on a sofa in a ruched evening gown. (Photo by Nixon/Express/Getty Images)
Zsa Zsa Gabor never reached the peaks of fame like fellow blonde Marylin Monroe. Nevertheless, she lived a life that reads stranger than fiction. Born the daughter of a soldier father and jewelry magnate/alleged brothel madam mother, Zsa Zsa and her two sisters were fated for fame. Of course, the middle child grew far more famous than her siblings in no small part to her unabashed romantic exploits (8 or 9 marriages but who's counting), utter imperiousness, and stunning beauty.
More than a pretty face, Zsa also possessed a cunning wit. When asked for clarification on the number of husbands she’d wed, she responded with, “You mean apart from my own?” Here are the unparalleled highlights of Zsa Zsa Gabor.
In 1937, fresh of her teen years, Zsa Zsa married the Turkish politician Burhan Asaf Belge, the first of many husbands.
Groomed For Fame
Zsa Zsa’s mother, Jolie, set the template for her daughter's future while supplying with them the tools to succeed. She also passed along her audacious attitude. The matron Gabor who owned a string of jewelry shops once said of herself, "Just like Bulgari is known in Rome, that's how well-known I was in Budapest."
Merv Griffin described the Gabor sisters: “They burst onto the society pages and into the gossip columns so suddenly, and with such force, it was as if they’d been dropped out of the sky.†Allied Artists/Photofest
A Chip Off The Old Block
All three of her daughters received standard education for up-and-coming socialites: acting, dancing, music, and naturally, fencing classes. Cindy Adams, biographer and close friend of Jolie perfectly described the Gabor worldview, “They have always lived with no reality; there was never any truth to anything.”
She made appearances in wide ranging films from “The Naked Gun 2 1/2: The Smell of Fear†to TV on “Gilligan’s Island,†“Batman†and the “Love Boat.â€
Made In America
After Zsa Zsa earned notoriety as Miss Hungary in 1936, all of the Gabor women moved to New York before World War II spread through Europe. In the United States, Zsa Zsa became a staple of Hollywood movies appearing in roughly 60 movies over her long career.
Most notably she starred in “Moulin Rouge,” “Lili,” “Touch of Evil” and “Queen of Outer Space.” The last became something of a cult classic, centered around Americans landing on another planet populated by scantily clad women. Zsa Zsa herself called it, “An awful film that just kept turning up.”
13th June 1957 Hungarian-born actor Zsa Zsa Gabor hotel heir Conrad Nicky Hilton 926 - 1969 and American actor Natalie Wood. Photo by Bruce BaileyGetty Images-Colorized-Enhanced.jpg
Nine’s A Charm
Despite all her films, Zsa Zsa undoubtedly became most famous for her many marriages and her mouth. Her many marriages include a Turkish diplomat, hotel heir Conrad Hilton, actor George Sanders, an oil magnate, a toy designer, an investor/industrialist, a divorce lawyer, and a man described as the Duke of Saxony despite having no royal blood. It’s also worth mentioning that Sanders later married her sister Magda for a month. Altogether the Gabor sisters tallied an astounding 20 weddings!
As if that wasn’t impressive enough, Zsa Zsa enjoyed affairs with Richard Nixon, Henry Kissinger, Sean Connery (who reportedly possessed “velvety-soft skin”) Richard Burton (“who liked to talk dirty”), and Frank Sinatra. Apparently, she only slept with the Chairman of the Board because he “refused to move his car out of her driveway unless she did.” The serial spouse famously once said, “I have learned that not diamonds but divorce lawyers are a girl’s best friend.”
Gabor and Hilton went through a tumultuous marriage to say the least.
Celebrity At Its Best
Zsa Zsa’s clever tongue led to a host of indelible quotes headlined by, “How do you keep a husband?... Shoot him in the legs.” Ironically, her wit was only matched by her complete lack of self-awareness, exemplified by her thoughts on Paris Hilton, “She’s rather silly. She does too many things for publicity.”
However, nothing matches what she told her judge following a DUI arrest, “You just cannot drive a Rolls-Royce in Beverly Hills anymore, because they have it in for you.” She also described the Beverly Hills police department’s “Gestapo” tactics.” Unsurprisingly, the judge gave her 72 hours in jail. Undoubtedly, her most fitting quote tells her true story, “A girl must marry for love, and keep on marrying until she finds it.”
