Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, July 5, 1995 TAG: 9507050103
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Los Angeles Times
DATELINE: LOS ANGELES LENGTH: Medium
Gabor had been admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center on June 21 after breaking her hip while traveling in Mexico, said Ron Wise, a hospital spokesman. She was found to be suffering from a serious case of pneumonia, Wise said, and died from related respiratory failure.
``It was a big shock, because Eva has been one of those people who had boundless energy and strength - a zest for living,'' said Kevin Sasaki, Gabor's publicist. ``She traveled, did charity work. She kept herself busy, always juggling eight plates at a time.''
Most recently, the platinum-haired actress had devoted herself to promoting Eva Gabor International, the world's largest wig maker, where she was chairwoman of the board. Sasaki said Gabor's recent appearances on the Home Shopping Network had broken sales records. One of her best-selling wigs was a mop of golden curls inspired by Gabor herself.
Described as the most down-to-earth of the Gabor sisters, Eva nevertheless had a lot in common with her many-times-married siblings, Zsa Zsa and Magda. Eva was married and divorced at least four times.
The sisters all were entertainers. And they all possessed the unmistakably breezy Gabor style. Once, for example, when introduced to then-President Johnson, Eva Gabor greeted him in her trademark Hungarian accent: ``Hello, Mr. President, darling.''
Born in Budapest, Eva Gabor aspired to acting from the age of 4.
Gabor spoke only broken English when she moved to California in 1939, but she signed with Paramount Pictures not long after her arrival. The studio gave her acting lessons and soon made her a leading lady in a hastily produced 1941 film called ``Forced Landing.'' Gabor later would call the movie ``a B picture only to those too lazy to go down the alphabet.''
As Gabor struggled to win better acting roles, the rest of her family immigrated to the United States. By the 1950s, they would become a show business phenomenon.
Gabor's motion picture credits include ``The Last Time I Saw Paris,'' ``Don't Go Near the Water,'' and ``Gigi.''
But the role of her career, she once said, was Lisa Douglas, the dizzy wife of a pompous city-slicker in the television barnyard farce ``Green Acres.''
Conceived of as a mirror image of ``The Beverly Hillbillies,'' in which country folk move to the city, the CBS series poked fun at a couple of New York socialites-turned-farmers who move to a town called Hooterville. Gabor, always elegantly dressed and coiffed, co-starred with Eddie Albert and a pig named Arnold.
The series, which aired from 1965-71, gave Gabor a claim to fame independent of her family. While some reviewers reviled it as silly fluff, Gabor said the show represented ``the best six years of my life. I adored every minute of it.''
In a 1988 interview, Gabor explained that she got into the wig business because her work in the theater made her appreciate the merits of a good, lightweight hairpiece.
``They used to be ghastly,'' she explained. ``They used to weigh tons.''
Zsa Zsa and Eva Gabor were often mistaken for one another, although the older sister's legal troubles, including a publicized run-in with a police officer, gave her the more colorful reputation.
Gabor is survived by her two sisters; her mother, Jolie; and six stepchildren.
Memo: NOTE: Shorter version ran in Metro edition.