Eva Gabor

Eva Gabor
Eva Gabor
Born	11 February 1919 (age 107); Budapest, Hungary
Died	4 July 1995 (aged 76); Los Angeles, California, U.S.
Occupation(s)	Actress, socialite, businesswoman
Years active	1941–1995
Known for	Role as Lisa Douglas on Green Acres; voice roles in Disney's The Aristocats and The Rescuers series

Eva Gabor ( ; February 11, 1919 – July 4, 1995) was a Hungarian-American actress and prominent socialite. She lent her voice to the characters Duchess and Miss Bianca in Disney’s animated films The Aristocats (1970), The Rescuers (1977), and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). Gabor became widely recognized for her role as Lisa Douglas on the 1965–1971 television sitcom Green Acres, where she portrayed the spouse of Eddie Albert’s character. Her career spanned film, Broadway, and television, alongside entrepreneurial ventures involving wigs, apparel, and beauty items. Her older sisters, Zsa Zsa Gabor and Magda Gabor, were also known as actresses and socialites.

Early life

Eva was born in Budapest, Hungary, as the youngest daughter among three siblings to Vilmos Gábor, who served as a soldier, and Jolie Gabor (née Janka Tilleman), a skilled jeweler. Both parents descended from Hungarian Jewish heritage. At age 18, shortly after marrying Swedish osteopath Dr. Eric Drimmer in 1937, Eva became the first of the Gabor sisters to move to the United States.

Early career

Gabor’s initial American film appearance came with the 1941 production Forced Landing under Paramount Pictures. During the 1950s, she featured in various motion pictures such as The Last Time I Saw Paris alongside Elizabeth Taylor and Artists and Models, starring Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis, mostly in minor roles. In 1953, she hosted her own television talk program titled The Eva Gabor Show, which lasted one season from 1953 to 1954. Throughout the late 1950s into the early 1960s, she appeared in films including a remake of My Man Godfrey, Gigi, and It Started with a Kiss. Her television appearances included episodes of Justice as well as guest spots on game shows like What's My Line?.

Green Acres

Beginning in 1965, Gabor took on the role of Lisa Douglas in CBS’s sitcom Green Acres. The storyline followed her character’s attorney husband Oliver Wendell Douglas (Eddie Albert) as he abandoned urban living to purchase a farm in the fictional rural community of Hooterville. Created by Paul Henning, the series shared its setting with Petticoat Junction, with occasional crossover episodes. Although it enjoyed strong viewership, ranking within the top 20 during its first four seasons, CBS cancelled Green Acres in 1971 amid its "rural purge" which targeted rural-themed shows for removal.

In 1966, Eva appeared on The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, where she played the game Twister with host Johnny Carson—a moment credited with significantly increasing the game's popularity.

Later career

In 1972, Gabor introduced a fashion line bearing her name in collaboration with Cuban-American designer Luis Estévez. She also contributed European-accented voice performances for Disney productions such as Duchess in The Aristocats and Miss Bianca in the The Rescuers series, along with voicing the Queen of Time in Sanrio’s Nutcracker Fantasy. Gabor participated as a panelist on the game show Match Game, continuing on its successor, the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour, from 1983 to 1984. She portrayed Aunt Renee during season four of “Hart to Hart” and reunited on Broadway with Eddie Albert in a production of You Can't Take It with You in 1983. In 1990, she starred in a CBS sitcom pilot titled Close Encounters, which aired as a special but was not developed into a series. Additionally, she made a return visit to Hungary—her first since emigrating over four decades earlier—featured on an episode of Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.

Personal life

Eva Gabor entered into matrimony five times but did not have any biological offspring:

Eric Valdemar Drimmer, originally from Sweden, who transitioned from a masseur to an osteopath and psychologist; they married in 1937 and divorced in 1942, with reasons cited as cruelty and incompatible family goals.
Charles Isaacs, an American financial broker; their marriage began in 1943 and ended in 1949.
John Elbert Williams, a specialist in plastic surgery; they wed in 1956 and separated the following year in 1957.
Richard Brown, initially a textile industry manufacturer who later became a writer and director; married at the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas in 1959, their union ended in divorce in Santa Monica in 1973.
Frank Gard Jameson Sr., an aerospace industry executive and former vice president at Rockwell International; they married at The Webb Schools chapel in 1973 and divorced a decade later in 1983. Through this marriage, Gabor assumed the role of stepmother to Jameson's four children.

During the production of Don't Go Near the Water (1957), she began a prolonged romantic relationship with actor Glenn Ford, which was on-and-off and nearly led to marriage in the early 1970s.

Following her last divorce, Gabor maintained a relationship with television producer Merv Griffin until her passing. Sources suggest their connection was non-romantic, possibly to obscure Griffin’s presumed homosexuality.

Death

Eva Gabor passed away on Independence Day 1995 in Los Angeles due to respiratory failure and pneumonia, which occurred after she slipped and fell in a bathtub while vacationing in Mexico. Her funeral service was held on July 11, 1995, at the Good Shepherd Catholic Church located in Beverly Hills.

As the youngest sibling, she predeceased both her elder sisters and their mother. The eldest sister Magda and their mother Jolie Gabor died in 1997, whereas her older sister Zsa Zsa succumbed to cardiac arrest on December 18, 2016.

Theatre roles

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 (assumed role from Vivien Leigh on October 21)	Winter Garden
April 4, 1983	January 1, 1984	You Can't Take It with You	The Grand Duchess Olga Katrina (followed Colleen Dewhurst)	Plymouth Royale

Film roles

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	Uncredited
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 roles
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

1983|| The Edge of Night|| Cast member|| 1986|| Bridges to Cross|| Maria Talbot|| rowspan="2"|1990|| Return to Green Acres|| Lisa Douglas|| 1993|| The Legend of the Beverly Hillbillies|| Herself|| 1995|| This Is Your Life|| Herself||

Year	Title	Character	Remarks
1951	Tales of Tomorrow	Laura	Appeared in the live American sci-fi anthology episode "The Invader"
1953	The Eva Gabor Show	Herself	Served as host
1954–1955	Justice		Featured in two episodes: "The Blackmailer" and "The Intruder"
1957	What's My Line?	Mystery Guest
1959	Five Fingers	Maria Vodnay
1960–1961	Harrigan and Son	Lillian Lovely
1965–1971	Green Acres	Lisa Douglas	Principal role; significant commercial success
1968	Here's Lucy	Eva Von Gronyitz
1969	Wake Me When the War Is Over	Baroness Marlene
1973–1982	Match Game	Frequent panelist
1975	Tattletales	Alongside husband Frank Jameson
1975	Ellery Queen	Magda Szomony
1977	The Love Boat	Beverly Blanchard
1981	Fantasy Island	Anastasia Dexter
1982	Hart to Hart	Renee
1982	Madame's Place	Herself
Close Encounters	Eva Hill

External links

Walk of Fame - Eva Gabor
"Eva Gabor and New York stockbroker, Richard Brown wed", tcm.turner.com