Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor (/ˌeɪvə ɡəˈbɔːr, - ˈɡɑːbɔːr/ AY-və gə-BOR, - GAH-bor; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress and socialite. She voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the animated Disney Classics, The Aristocats (1970), The Rescuers (1977), and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). She was popular in her role on the 1965–71 television sitcom Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character Oliver Wendell Douglas. Gabor was an actress in film, on Broadway, and on television. She was also a businesswoman, marketing wigs, clothing, and beauty products. Her elder sisters, Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, were also actresses and socialites.
Eva Gabor | |
|---|---|
Gabor on the set of Green Acres in 1969 | |
| Born | Éva Gábor February 11, 1919 |
| Died | July 4, 1995 (aged 76) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery |
| Other names | Gábor Éva |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1941–1994 |
| Known for | Green Acres |
| Spouses | Eric Valdemar Drimmer (m. 1937; div. 1942)Charles Isaacs (m. 1943; div. 1949)John Elbert Williams (m. 1956; div. 1957)Richard Brown (m. 1959; div. 1973)Frank Gard Jameson Sr. (m. 1973; div. 1983) |
| Parent |
|
| Relatives | Magda Gabor (sister) Zsa Zsa Gabor (sister) Francesca Hilton (niece) Tom Lantos (cousin) |
Early life edit
Gabor was born in Budapest, Hungary, the youngest of three daughters of Vilmos Gábor, a soldier, and his wife, trained jeweler Jolie (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]
Early career edit
Her first movie role was in the U.S. in 1941's Forced Landing at Paramount Pictures. During the 1950s, she appeared in several feature films, including The Last Time I Saw Paris, starring Elizabeth Taylor; and Artists and Models, which featured Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. These roles were bit parts. In 1953, she was given her own television talk show, The Eva Gabor Show, which ran for one season (1953–54). Through the rest of the 1950s and early 1960s she appeared on television and in movies. She appeared in one episode of the mystery series Justice and was on the game show What's My Line? as the "mystery challenger." Her film appearances during this era included a remake of My Man Godfrey, Gigi, and It Started with a Kiss.
Green Acres edit
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.
In 1966, Eva Gabor and Johnny Carson played Twister on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson.[5][6][7]
Later career edit
In 1972, Gabor launched her eponymous fashion collection with Luis Estévez, a Cuban-born American fashion designer.[8][9][10]
Gabor later did voice-over work for Disney movies, providing the European-accented voices of Duchess in The Aristocats, and Miss Bianca in The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under, as well as the Queen of Time in the Sanrio film Nutcracker Fantasy. She was a panelist on the Gene Rayburn-hosted Match Game. From 1983 to 1984, she was on the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour starring Gene Rayburn and Jon Bauman.[11]
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 edit
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]
- Richard Brown, a textile manufacturer, who later became a writer and director.[15][16] They married at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, on October 4, 1959, and divorced in Santa Monica, California, in June 1973.[15][17][18]
- 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 edit
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]
Theatre roles edit
| Opening date | Closing date | Title | Role | Theatre |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| January 24, 1950 | July 14, 1951 | The Happy Time | Mignonette | Plymouth |
| March 26, 1956 | March 31, 1956 | Little Glass Clock | Gabrielle | John Golden |
| January 31, 1958 | February 8, 1958 | Present Laughter | Joanna Lyppiatt | Belasco |
| March 18, 1963 | November 9, 1963 | Tovarich | Tatiana (succeeded Vivien Leigh October 21) | Winter Garden |
| April 4, 1983 | January 1, 1984 | You Can't Take It with You | The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina (succeeded Colleen Dewhurst) | Plymouth Royale |
Film roles edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1941 | Forced Landing | Johanna Van Deuren | |
| New York Town | Minor Role | Uncredited | |
| Pacific Blackout | Marie Duval | ||
| 1942 | Star Spangled Rhythm | Eva Gabor | Uncredited |
| 1945 | A Royal Scandal | Countess Demidow | |
| 1946 | The Wife of Monte Cristo | Mme. Lucille Maillard | |
| 1949 | Song of Surrender | Countess Marina | |
| 1952 | Love Island | Sarna | |
| 1953 | Paris Model | Gogo Montaine | |
| 1954 | The Mad Magician | Claire Ormond | |
| Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl | Judith Duvall | ||
| The Last Time I Saw Paris | Lorraine Quarl | ||
| 1955 | Artists and Models | Sonia / Mrs. Curtis | |
| 1957 | The Truth About Women | Louise Tiere | |
| My Man Godfrey | Francesca Gray | ||
| Don't Go Near the Water | Deborah Aldrich | ||
| 1958 | Gigi | Liane d'Exelmans | |
| 1959 | It Started with a Kiss | Marquesa Marion de la Rey | |
| 1963 | A New Kind of Love | Felicienne Courbeau | |
| 1964 | Youngblood Hawke | Fannie Prince | |
| 1970 | The Aristocats | Duchess | Voice |
| 1977 | The Rescuers | Miss Bianca | |
| 1979 | Nutcracker Fantasy | Queen of Time | |
| 1987 | The Princess Academy | Countess Von Pupsin | |
| 1990 | The Rescuers Down Under | Miss Bianca |
Television roles edit
| Year | Title | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Tales of Tomorrow | Laura | Episode: "The Invader", an American anthology SciFi series performed and broadcast live |
| 1953 | The Eva Gabor Show | Herself | Host |
| 1954–1955 | Justice | 2 episodes: "The Blackmailer", and "The Intruder" | |
| 1957 | What's My Line? | Mystery Guest | Season No. 9, episode No. 12, overall episode No. 389 |
| 1959 | Five Fingers | Maria Vodnay | Episode: "Station Break" |
| 1960–1961 | Harrigan and Son | Lillian Lovely | Two appearances |
| 1965–1971 | Green Acres | Lisa Douglas | Lead role |
| 1968 | Here's Lucy | Eva Von Gronyitz | Episode: "Lucy and Eva Gabor" |
| 1969 | Wake Me When the War Is Over | Baroness Marlene | |
| 1973–1982 | Match Game | Recurring panelist | |
| 1975 | Tattletales | With husband Frank Jameson | |
| Ellery Queen | Magda Szomony | Episode: "The Adventure of the Blunt Instrument" | |
| 1977 | The Love Boat | Beverly Blanchard | Episode No. 10: "Dear Beverly/The Strike/Special Delivery" |
| 1981 | Fantasy Island | Anastasia Dexter | Episode: "My Late Lover/Sanctuary" |
| 1982 | Hart to Hart | Renee | Episode: "With This Hart I Thee Wed" |
| Madame's Place | Herself | Episode: "Everyone Has Their Dream Role" | |
| 1983 | The Edge of Night | Cast member | |
| 1990 | Return to Green Acres | Lisa Douglas | |
| Close Encounters | Eva Hill | ||
| 1993 | The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies | Herself | |
| 1995 | This Is Your Life | Herself |
See also edit
- Gabor sisters
- Eva Gabor portrait by Americo Makk
Further reading edit
- 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 edit
- ^ . 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. 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. from the original on February 6, 2015. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
- ^ Johnson, Irving (February 29, 1948). "Those Gabor Girls". San Antonio Light. p. 62. 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. from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ "How Johnny Carson Saved Twister". HISTORY. June 1, 2023. from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ "Twister". The Strong National Museum of Play. 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)
- ^ . 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. 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 b Eva 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. from the original on May 29, 2016. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ a b "Aeronautics Executive Jameson Dies". Articles.latimes.com. May 18, 1993. 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. 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. 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. from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ Richmond, Ray. "Merv Griffin died a closeted homosexual". ReutersU.K. 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. from the original on November 25, 2018. Retrieved February 16, 2017.
- ^ Gary Wayne (May 20, 1998). "Church of the Good Shepherd". Seeing-stars.com. from the original on May 18, 2016. Retrieved July 16, 2016.
- ^ (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. from the original on December 13, 2017. Retrieved December 14, 2017.
- ^ "Archived copy". 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. from the original on February 12, 2024. Retrieved December 26, 2023.
- ^ "Orchids & Salami – Eva Gabor's Autobiography". The Gaboratory. January 15, 2018. from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
- ^ "Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction". Kirkus Reviews. 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. from the original on December 16, 2023. Retrieved December 19, 2023.
External links edit
- Eva Gabor at IMDb
- at the TCM Movie Database
- Eva Gabor at the Internet Broadway Database
- Eva Gabor at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
- https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/1337/eva-gabor
- https://walkoffame.com/eva-gabor/
- "Eva Gabor and New York stockbroker, Richard Brown wed", tcm.turner.com