Zsa Zsa Gabor, the Hungarian-born Hollywood siren perhaps better known for her prodigious love life than her movie credits, died Sunday after suffering a heart attack, her husband said. She was 99.
An emotional Frederic von Anhalt told AFP that Gabor had passed away at home surrounded by friends and family.
"Everybody was there. She didn't die alone," he told AFP by telephone, choking back sobs.
The pair married in 1986, making it her longest marriage.
Gabor, who in her heyday embodied the film industry's platinum blonde ideal, was a voluptuous former beauty queen with a penchant for lame gowns that accentuated her hourglass curves.
Her resume includes a long list of film roles in such hit movies as "Moulin Rouge," "Lili" and "Arrivederci Baby!"
But the actress was at least as famous for her conquests between the sheets as her triumphs on the silver screen.
Like her famous great-granddaughter by marriage Paris Hilton, Gabor was among the first celebrities to be famous for her celebrity.
Her thick Hungarian accent was much parodied -- especially her penchant for calling everyone she met "darling" -- or "dahlink" as she pronounced it.
It became her unique signature.
"I call everyone 'dahlink' because I can't remember their names," the socialite once said.
- Nine marriages -
Born in Hungary on February 6, 1917, as Sari Gabor, Zsa Zsa was one of a trio of ravishing sisters known for their shapely curves and passion for well-heeled men.
Her sisters were Magda, and Hollywood star Eva Gabor, who achieved greater acting success in the United States than her sister for her role in the 1960s hit television series "Green Acres."
Zsa Zsa also came to be known for her love of diamonds and frequently was photographed dripping in the sparkling gems.
During nine marriages and a prodigious number of affairs that made her a fixture in America's gossip magazines, she had just one child -- a daughter Francesca, fathered by hotel magnate Conrad Hilton.
She wrote in her 1993 autobiography "One Lifetime is Not Enough" that she lost her virginity at the age of 15 to Kemal Ataturk, the founder of modern Turkey.
"For the rest of my life, I would search for another god to eclipse him," Gabor wrote.
Her romantic scorecard was a "Who's Who" of Hollywood heartthrobs of her day, and her kiss-and-tell book detailed romances with screen legends Sean Connery and Frank Sinatra.
Gabor was known to be picky, however, spurning the advances of John F. Kennedy, Elvis Presley, John Huston and Henry Fonda, she wrote in her autobiography.
Her romantic dalliances even included a flirtation with screen legend Greta Garbo.
"She kissed me straight on the mouth. And I couldn't help kissing her back because she was so overwhelmingly strong and so beautiful," Gabor wrote.
In June 1989, Gabor made headlines when she slapped the face of a Beverly Hills police officer for giving her a traffic ticket. She was sentenced to three days in jail and ordered to pay $13,000 in court costs.
Gabor was briefly married to British-born actor George Sanders, who later wooed and briefly wed her sister Magda.
- Love, sex, romance, divorce -
The loquacious actress was known for an endless stream of bon mots, mostly uttered on the talkshow circuit, about her favorite topics: love, sex, romance and divorce.
They included:
- A man in love is incomplete until he has married. Then he's finished.
- Getting divorced just because you don't love a man is almost as silly as getting married just because you do.
- Husbands are like fires -- they go out when unattended.
- I never hated a man enough to give him diamonds back.
- I'm a great housekeeper. I get divorced. I keep the house.
- You never really know a man until you have divorced him.
Gabor, who had been in and out of hospital since a hip replacement in 2010, had several close brushes with death in recent years.
A 2002 car accident left the actress partially paralyzed and wheelchair-bound. She also had a stroke in 2005. One of her legs was partially amputated.
In 2011, von Anhalt said he had kept the extent of Gabor's medical problems from her, so that she could enjoy the festivities in typical style.
"We had some champagne and caviar .. we really celebrated good," he told AFP at the time. "I knew she had to go to the hospital, but I didn't want to tell her anything."
AFP
Sun Dec 18 2016
Zsa Zsa Gabor, seen in this file photo taken on July 12, 1989, was a voluptuous former beauty queen with a penchant for lame gowns that accentuated her hourglass curves. / AFP PHOTO
MOM bakal hantar resolusi rayu kerajaan teruskan penganjuran Sukan SEA 2027
MOM akan menghantar resolusi kepada Kementerian Belia dan Sukan untuk merayu agar Malaysia kekal menjadi penganjur Sukan SEA 2027.
AWANI Borneo [29/04/2024] – Perkukuh sektor perhutanan | Calon ADUN Tanjung Batu | Piala Borneo bakal kembali
Laporan berita padat dan ringkas dari Borneo bersama Nickyson Nyambar
#AWANIBorneo 29 April 2024
Sarawak perkukuh kerjasama dengan Sweden, sektor perhutanan tumpuan utama
Calon ADUN Tanjung Batu, Bung Moktar kekal dengan pendirian, Andi reda tapi tunggu bubar dulu
Fazzrudin sambut baik usaha tubuhkan Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo
#AWANInews
#AWANIBorneo 29 April 2024
Sarawak perkukuh kerjasama dengan Sweden, sektor perhutanan tumpuan utama
Calon ADUN Tanjung Batu, Bung Moktar kekal dengan pendirian, Andi reda tapi tunggu bubar dulu
Fazzrudin sambut baik usaha tubuhkan Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo
#AWANInews
Vokalis Dewa 19, Virzha kahwin wanita Arab
Salah seorang vokalis Dewa 19, Virzha mengakhiri zaman bujang pada usia 33 tahun.
Blok Negara Islam Sedang ‘Stress’? Langsung Dialog 4 Menteri Luar
Situasi meruncing di Gaza, konflik Iran-Israel dan ditambah pula persaingan kuat dua kuasa, Amerika Syarikat dan China dilihat terus membayangi percaturan geopolitik dan geoekonomi negara-negara Islam di Asia Barat. Menteri Luar Turkiye dan Arab Saudi antara yang tampil duduk sepentas
membincangkan apa lagi yang bakal jadi nanti.
#SpecialMeeting24
membincangkan apa lagi yang bakal jadi nanti.
#SpecialMeeting24
Krisis iklim: Kanak-kanak antara paling terjejas - UNICEF
Apabila bencana alam berlaku, kanak-kanak lebih terdedah dan berpotensi mengalami kesan yang berpanjangan.
Raja Permaisuri Agong terima menghadap Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British ke Malaysia
Raja Permaisuri Agong Raja Zarith Sofiah hari ini berkenan menerima menghadap Pesuruhjaya Tinggi British ke Malaysia Ailsa Terry di Istana Negara.
Masyarakat Cina bersama meriahkan rumah terbuka UMNO Sandakan
Masyarakat Cina di sekitar Sandakan bwersama memeriahkan dan menikmati juadah di rumah terbuka Aidilfitri anjujran UMNO Sandakan.
Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo bantu tingfkatkan kualiti pemain Sarawak
Presiden Kuching FA Fazzrudin Abdul Rahman menyambut baik uaha menubuhkan Gagasan Bola Sepak Borneo yang diyakini mampu menggilap kualiti bola sepak di pulau itu.
Terserah Bung Moktar, yang penting khidmat untuk rakyat dulu - Andi
ADUN Tanjung Batu, Datuk Andi Muhamad Suryady Bandy menyerahkan kepada Datuk Seri Bung Moktar untuk memastikan kemenangan UMN O dalan PRN 17 namun pada masa sama berharap perkara mengenai calon dibincang selepas DUN Sabah dibubar.
PRN 17: Pimpinan UMNO Sabah berhak nilai calon terbaik
Ketua Perhubungan UMNO Sabah Datuk Seri Bung Moktar Radin menegaskan pihaknya bertanggungjawab menetukan calon terbaik untuk mewakili parti itu dalam PRN Sabah ke-17.