Zsa Zsa Gabor Biography

Actress. Born Sari Gabor on February 6, 1917, in Budapest, Hungary. Despite a tepid film career, Zsa Zsa Gabor became a popular celebrity for decades, often appearing on television as an alluring, witty, and sometimes challenging guest who had a habit of calling nearly everyone “darling.” Married numerous times, she is often remembered for her funny quips on love and marriage, such as “A man in love is incomplete until he has married—then he’s finished” or “husbands are like fires. They go out when unattended.”

Zsa Zsa Gabor made her film debut in 1952’s Lovely to Look at. That same year, she also had a part in We’re Not Married! with Ginger Rogers and Fred Astaire and a starring role in Moulin Rouge with José Ferrer. Garbor later appeared opposite one-time husband George Sanders in Death of a Scoundel (1956) and had a small role in Orson Welles' classic Touch of Evil (1958).

Also in the 1950s, Zsa Zsa Gabor worked on television, largely making guest appearances on such shows as The Life of Riley, Playhouse 90, Matinee Theatre, Burke’s Law, Gilligan’s Island, and Batman. Vivacious and humorous, Gabor was also a popular guest on talk shows and celebrity game shows.

What audiences seemed most interested in was Zsa Zsa Gabor herself. To many she appeared as an icon of European glamour, luxury, and self-indulgence. Often portrayed as a wily seductress, she became even more famous for her many marriages than her acting abilities. Through the years Gabor often guest starred as herself on numerous television shows and in films—sometimes poking fun at her own image and antics. In the later part of her career, she had cameo roles in such films as A Very Brady Sequel (1996) and The Beverly Hillbillies (1993).

In 1986, she married her current husband Prince Frederick von Anhalt, a man roughly 30 years her junior. As his wife, she was awarded the title Princess von Anhalt, Duchess of Saxony. Some royal genealogists question this title. There are reports that Frederick von Anhalt received his title only after being adopted by a princess as an adult therefore gaining the right to use her surname.

Making headlines in 1989, Zsa Zsa Gabor got into an altercation with a police officer. She slapped the officer after being stopped for a driving violation and was arrested for assault. During the trial, Gabor made remarks about the officer, who then filed a slander suit against the actress. She was later sentenced to serve three days in jail in the criminal case after failing to complete the terms of her probation. The civil suit was settled out of court in 1991.

Zsa Zsa Gabor once again talked her way in trouble during her long-standing feud with actress Elke Sommer. This battle reached the courts in the 1990s when Sommer sued Zsa Zsa Gabor and Prince Frederick von Anhalt for defamation of character and libel after the couple made disparaging remarks about Sommer to some German publications. The jury found in favor of Sommer.