Eva Gabor was born on February 11, 1921 in Budapest, Hungary to Major Vilmos Gabor, a jeweler, and his wife Jolie. She was the youngest of the three glamorous Gabor sisters (Magda was the oldest and Zsa Zsa is the middle one.)
Eva, Zsa Zsa, and Magda were raised in upper middle-class surroundings and were tutored by governesses. Eva attended the Forstner Girls Institute in Budapest, and she decided to become an actress when she was four years old.
In 1939, at the outbreak of World War II, Eva fled her native Hungary, came to the United States, and went to Hollywood to pursue who lifelong dream of becoming an actress. At that time she was married to her first husband, Dr. Eric Drimmer, a Swedish-born Hollywood physician. She signed her first contract with Paramount Pictures and landed her first film role, Forced Landing, in 1941.
She also appeared in several other films such as A Royal Scandal (1945), The Wife of Monte Cristo (1946), The Mad Magician (1953), Paris Model (1953), The Last Time I Saw Paris (1954), Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl (1954), Artists and Models (1955), (Don't Go Near the Water (1957), The Truth About Women (1958), Gigi (1958), It Started With a Kiss (1959), A New Kind of Love (1963), Youngblood Hawke (1964), The Aristocats (1970), The Rescuers (1977), The Princess Academy (1987), and The Rescuers Down Under (1990).
Besides the movies, Eva made numerous appearances on television and in the theater. Some of the plays that she appeared in were The Happy Time, Little Glass Clock, Lulu, Tovarich, and You Can't Take It With You. On television, she made guest appearances on Merv Griffin, the Match Game, Tattletales, Password, Here's Lucy, The Love Boat, and Fantasy Island.
However, in 1965, at the height of the British Invasion and Motown, she finally landed the role that really made her a star; and that is the role of Lisa Douglas, a glamorous Hungarian-born city socialite-turned farm wife of lawyer-turned-farmer Eddie Albert on the CBS television series Green Acres. It was also during this period that she established her wig business, Eva Gabor International.
Unlike Zsa Zsa, Eva hardly had any scandal in her life. But on January 4, 1964 (when There I Said it Again by Bobby Vinton was the Number One song in the entire country), Eva was beaten and robbed of a $25000 diamond ring.
Eva was married and divorced five times. Besides Dr. Eric Drimmer, her other husbands were millionaire realtor Charles Issacs, plastic surgeon Dr. John Williams, Wall Street stockbroker-turned Filmways Vice President Richard Brown, and aerospace executive Frank Jameson. She also went out with Tyrone Power, Glenn Ford, and Merv Griffin as well.
On June 20, 1995, Eva was down in Mexico on a week's vacation where she fell and broke her hip. She was then taken to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, with fluid already in her lungs and she had trouble breathing. She was put on a respirator, given medication, but then she fell into a coma and died on July 4, just two weeks later. Her funeral service was at the Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills, and she is buried in Westwood Memorial Cemetery in Los Angeles.
Although Eva Gabor is gone now, she will never be forgotten, because to me, Eva Gabor Sill Lives!
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