Gabor was born in Budapest, Hungary, the youngest of three daughters of Vilmos Gábor, a soldier, and his wife, trained jewelerJolie (born Janka Tilleman). Her parents were both from Hungarian Jewish families.[1][2][3] She was the first of the sisters to immigrate to the U.S., shortly after her first marriage to a Swedish osteopath, Dr. Eric Drimmer, whom she married in 1937 when she was 18 years old.[4]
In 1965, Gabor got the role of Lisa Douglas, whose attorney husband Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert) decides to leave the "rat race" of city life. He buys a farm in a rural community, forcing Lisa to leave her beloved big-city urban life. The Paul Henning sitcom Green Acres aired on CBS. Green Acres was set in Hooterville, the same backdrop for Petticoat Junction (1963–70), and would occasionally cross over with its sister sitcom. Despite proving to be a ratings hit, staying in the top 20 for its first four seasons, Green Acres, along with another sister show, The Beverly Hillbillies, was cancelled in 1971 in the CBS network's "rural purge" — a policy to get rid of the network's rural-based television shows.
Eva appeared as Aunt Renee in the fourth season of “Hart to Hart”, and in 1983, she reunited with Eddie Albert on Broadway as the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina in You Can't Take It with You. In 1990, she attempted a TV series comeback in the CBS sitcom pilot Close Encounters; the pilot aired as a special that summer, but did not make it to series status. She toured post-communist Hungary after a 40-year absence on an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.
Personal life
Eva Gabor was married five times. She had no children:
Eric Valdemar Drimmer, a Swedish-born masseur turned osteopath and psychologist. They wed in London on June 3, 1937, and divorced in Los Angeles, California, on February 25, 1942 (the divorce was finalized on March 6); Gabor claimed cruelty, saying, "I wanted to have babies and lead a simple family life but my husband objected to my having children".[12]
Charles Isaacs, an American investment broker.[13] They married on September 27, 1943, and were divorced on April 2, 1949.
John Elbert Williams, MD, a plastic surgeon. They married on April 8, 1956, and were divorced on March 20, 1957.[14]
Frank Gard Jameson Sr., an aerospace executive and former vice president of Rockwell International.[19] They married in the Vivian Webb Chapel of The Webb Schools, Claremont, California on September 21, 1973. The couple divorced in 1983.[20] Gabor became a stepmother to Jameson's four children.[19]
Gabor also had a long term on-and off affair with actor Glenn Ford which began during the filming of Don't Go Near the Water in 1957. They dated between their marriages and almost married in the early 1970s.[21]
After her final marriage, Gabor was involved in a relationship with TV producer Merv Griffin until her death.[22][23][24]Reuters reported that this was a platonic relationship to hide Griffin's suspected homosexuality.[25]
Death
Gabor died in Los Angeles on Independence Day 1995, from respiratory failure and pneumonia, following a fall in a bathtub in Mexico,[26] where she had been on vacation.[27] Her funeral was held on July 11, 1995, at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills.[28]
The youngest sister, Eva predeceased her elder sisters and her mother. Eldest sister Magda and mother Jolie Gabor both died two years later, in 1997. Elder sister Zsa Zsa died from cardiac arrest on December 18, 2016.[29][30]
Orchids & Salami: A Gay and Impudent Memoir'', by Eva Gabor, Doubleday, 1954 (Foreword by Lawrence Langner)[31][32][33][34][35]
Gaborabilia, by Anthony Turtu and Donald F. Reuter, Three Rivers Press, 2001; ISBN 0-609-80759-5
References
^"Reflecting on the life of Zsa Zsa Gabor". New York Social Diary. Archived from the original on December 22, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
^"Jews in the News: Bonni Tischler, Steven Spielberg and Vilmos Gabor | Tampa Jewish Federation". Jewishtampa.com. July 11, 2016. Archived from the original on October 5, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
^Bennetts, Leslie (September 6, 2007). "It's a Mad, Mad, Zsa Zsa World". Vanity Fair. Archived from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
^Johnson, Irving (February 29, 1948). "Those Gabor Girls". San Antonio Light. p. 62. Archived from the original on June 10, 2016. Retrieved May 28, 2016.
^Belvedere, Matthew J. (May 4, 2016). "The surprising story of how Johnny Carson saved Twister". CNBC. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^"How Johnny Carson Saved Twister". HISTORY. June 1, 2023. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^"Twister". The Strong National Museum of Play. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^Marian Christy, "Mama Gabor: Ageless Mother of 3",Newport Daily News, February 17, 1975.
^Launch date cited in McDowell's Directory of Twentieth Century Fashion by Colin McDowell (F. Muller, 1984)
^"NMAH | Hispanic Designers". Archived from the original on January 19, 2012. Retrieved January 1, 2012.
^Pixie, Pranking (July 4, 2012). "Pixie Pranks and Disney Fun: Every Disney Hero Has a Voice ~ Eva Gabor Duchess & Bianca". Pixie Pranks and Disney Fun. Archived from the original on February 10, 2018. Retrieved February 9, 2018.
^"Eva Gabor Obtains Divorce", The New York Times, February 25, 1945
^"Eva Gabor in Hospital", The New York Times, December 2, 1946
^"Eva Gabor Wed to Surgeon", The New York Times, April 9, 1956
^ a bEva Gabor Wed in Las Vegas", The New York Times, October 5, 1959
^Brown's later career was described in "Notes on People", The New York Times, June 26, 1973
^"Notes on People", The New York Times, June 26, 1973
^"Palm Springs History - Gabor Family Zsa Zsa Magda Jolie Eva". Palm Springs Life. August 21, 2015. Archived from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^ a b"Aeronautics Executive Jameson Dies". Articles.latimes.com. May 18, 1993. Archived from the original on March 6, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
^"Notes on People", The New York Times, September 22, 1973
^Ford, Peter. Glenn Ford: A Life (Wisconsin Film Studies). Madison, Wisconsin: University of Wisconsin Press, 2011. p.177, p.189 and p.256 ISBN 978-0-29928-154-0
^Jacobs, Jody (July 12, 1985). "Merv Griffin's Birthday Party, Anyone?". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^"GRIFFIN, EVA GABOR MAY MARRY SOON, ZSA ZSA SAYS". Deseret News. June 6, 1988. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^"Eva Gabor Merv Griffin Photos and Premium High Res Pictures - Getty Images". www.gettyimages.com. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^Richmond, Ray. "Merv Griffin died a closeted homosexual". ReutersU.K. Archived from the original on August 10, 2018. Retrieved August 10, 2018.
^"Eva Gabor dies at 74 - UPI Archives". UPI. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^"Eva Gabor, 74, the Actress; Youngest of Celebrated Sisters". The New York Times. Associated Press. July 5, 1995. Archived from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
^Gary Wayne (May 20, 1998). "Church of the Good Shepherd". Seeing-stars.com. Archived from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
^"Zsa Zsa Gabor Death Certificate" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on March 4, 2023. Retrieved April 24, 2021.
^McFadden, Robert D. (December 18, 2016). "Zsa Zsa Gabor, Actress Famous for Her Glamour (and Her Marriages), Dies at 99". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
^"Archived copy". Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 16, 2023.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
^Gabor, Eva (1954). Orchids and Salami. W.H. Allen. Archived from the original on February 12, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
^"Orchids & Salami – Eva Gabor's Autobiography". The Gaboratory. January 15, 2018. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^"Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction". Kirkus Reviews. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
^Millstein, Gilbert (January 24, 1954). "The Clan Gabor; ORCHIDS AND SALAMI. By Eva Gabor. Foreword by Lawrence Langner. 219 pp. New York: Doubleday & Co. $2.75". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.