Veteran actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor died earlier today of a heart attack. She was 99.
Her ninth husband, Frederic von Anhalt confirmed her passing. “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,” von Anhalt told The Associated Press.
Sari Gabor, a former Miss Hungary, emigrated to the United States in 1941 when World War II began. She quickly built a career for herself in front of the camera.
She made her acting debut with a supporting role in Lovely To Look At. She was noted for her charm and grace, and her extraordinary beauty.
Though she was an established actress, Gabor’s often made headlines for her personal life. She had a number of love affairs, some controversial. Her ninth and final marriage was to Frederic von Anhalt in 1986. Von Anhalt has a disputed claim to nobility. Speaking to Foxnews about life, fame, and marriage, she said, “I love the companionship, I love cooking for a man (simple things like chicken soup and my special Dracula’s goulash from Hungary), and spending all my time with a man. Of course I love being in love – but it is marriage that really fulfills me. But not in every case.”
Curiously, she attributed her numerous marriages to her Catholicism, saying she felt compelled to marry a man she slept with because she “never stopped being a Catholic at heart”.
“Every age has its Madame Pompadour, its Lady Hamilton, its Queen of Sheba, it’s Cleopatra,” George Sanders, an Oscar winning actor and one of Gabor’s husbands wrote in his autobiography. “I wouldn’t be surprised if history singles out Zsa Zsa as its 20th century prototype of this exclusive coterie.”
Her outspokenness was celebrated, and made her the darling of live television. Gabor was often objectified onscreen and rarely received meaningful roles. Though she was aware of this fact, she none the less parlayed it for fame.
For much of her acting career, she was cast in supporting roles that took advantage of her controversial life. Her personal life was constantly under scrutiny. Though the scandal-loving public loved to hear stories of her many husbands, she never reached the level of fame and recognition as some of contemporaries, such as Audrey Hepburn. She was often vilified as the ‘other woman’ because of her willingness to talk about her love life, and her casual and carefree attitude towards the other sex.
Today, as news of her passing became public, Gabor’s life and loves were celebrated.
Tributes poured in for the late actress on social media.
RIP Zsa Zsa Gabor
“I want a man who’s kind and understanding. Is that too much to ask of a millionaire?” pic.twitter.com/Bc9XFg6w0h— Kay Burley (@KayBurley) December 19, 2016
Zsa Zsa Gabor lived 99 years, through two World Wars and 9 marriages.
And then she went up against 2016, aka the World-Murderer.
A D V E R T I S E M E N TRIP
— Downtown Josh Brown (@ReformedBroker) December 19, 2016
Zsa Zsa Gabor – 99 years old, nine husbands, and unique. ‘I choose the man. I do not permit the man to choose me.’ Hell of a life. RIP.
— Boris Starling (@vodkaboris) December 18, 2016
