Hungarian-American actress Zsa Zsa Gabor passed away Dec. 18 at the age of 99, just two months shy of her 100th birthday.
As previously reported, the actress died at her home after suffering a heart attack. She had undergone medical complications over the years after a car crash in 2002 left her comatose before she had to be confined to a wheelchair.
The daughter of Vilmos and Jolie Gabor, she was the middle child of three sisters. Her older sister, Magda, passed away in 1997 and her younger sister, actress Eva Gabor, died in 1995.
Gabor had a fascinating life although the past few years, she suffered from dementia and other ailments. A year before her death, her only child, Francesca Hilton, passed away due to a stroke.
There are many fascinating facts to know about Gabor. In honor of her memory, we have compiled a list of some things you didn’t know about the glamourous former beauty queen and actress.
Beauty Queen
In 1936, Gabor won the title of Beauty Queen as Miss Hungary.
Ponzi scheme
She was named as one of the victims of Bernie Madoff’s ponzi scheme back in 2009. She claimed that she had lost $7 million and owed a debt of $118,000 to the IRS.
Marriages
Gabor was married nine times. Her shortest union in 1982 was with Felipe De Alba. The marriage was invalid since at the time, she was not legally divorced from Michael O’Hara, whom she married in 1977. Her final marriage was to Prince Frederick Von Anhalt, Duke of Saxony. Their marriage lasted until her death.
Singing
Her career began in music when she was invited to sing in the operetta The Singing Dream when she arrived in Vienna at age 17.
Acting
Even though Gabor was famous for being just that, she did have a career in acting both in television and movies. Her first film was the 1952 musical Lovely to Look At, in which her character was named Zsa Zsa. She also starred in Moulin Rouge, The Story of Three Loves and had a cameo in Touch of Evil. In the ‘60s, she was well known on the talk show circuit.
Her age
She continuously made different claims about how old she was and in one case, her driver’s license listed her birth year as 1928. It wasn’t until a classmate from her Swiss finish school unearthed a school photo that her birth date was listed under was it revealed her actual age.