Zsa Zsa Gabor Dies at 99
Actress
Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Hungarian-born darling of Hollywood in the 1950s and '60s, has died.
Gabor died around 1 p.m. Sunday, her former publicist Edward Lozzi told ABC News. She was 99 years old.
Born Sári Gábor, the actress has never admitted a birthdate but is thought by Hollywood journalists to have been born between 1917 and 1919. Her Wikipedia page cites her birthdate as Feb. 6, 1917, which would make her 99 years old.
Gabor got her start in show business in Europe, competing in the Miss
Hungary beauty contest in 1936 and singing in Richard Tauber's Austrian operetta "The Singing Dream" later that year.
Her first major Hollywood movie was 1952's "Lovely to Look At." That same year, Gabor starred in her breakout film, "Moulin Rouge." For the next two decades, she captivated audiences in a number of films, including "Lili," "Touch of Evil," "Death of a Scoundrel" and "Boys' Night Out."
Gabor appeared in a handful of films after 1980, including "The Naked Gun 2½: The Smell of Fear" and "The Beverly Hillbillies."
Gabor's attitude made her as much of a character as her acting. In 1989, she was accused of slapping a Beverly Hills police officer who stopped her for a traffic violation. She was found guilty of assault and sentenced to three days in jail. Gabor went on to poke fun at the incident in her TV and movie roles.
With nine marriages, Gabor ranks as one of Hollywood's most legendary romancers. She was divorced seven times; one marriage was annulled. Gabor married Frederic Prinz von Anhalt in 1986; their relationship was by far her most long-lasting.
Gabor's sisters, Magda and Eva, also followed her path to fame and became actresses and socialites.
However, Gabor has not been seen in public for some time, as her health has been declining for years.
She was partially paralyzed in a 2002 car accident and suffered a massive stroke in 2005. She underwent two surgeries in 2007, one to deal with the aftermath of the '05 stroke and another to treat a leg infection.
Gabor broke her hip on July 17, 2010 after a fall at her Bel-Air home. She went through hip replacement surgery later that month. After that, she was hospitalized several times for swelling, clots, blood transfusions and the amputation.
Then, in January 2011, doctors at the UCLA Medical Center amputated most of her right leg. That same month, von Anhalt put their mansion on the market for $28 million in an effort to raise money for her medical bills.
"I just want to settle my wife's debts and keep her comfortable," he said, according to
the LA Times.
She is survived by her husband. Gabor had one daughter, Francesca, from her marriage to
Conrad Hilton, though she died last year.
