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Who was Eva Gabor?
The late Hungarian-American actress Eva Gabor was born in Budapest, Hungarian Republic on February 11, 1919, meaning Aquarius was her zodiac sign. She was active in the film industry from 1941 until her death in 1995, appearing in 83 TV series and films; Maybe from Eve still best remembered for voicing the main character Miss Bianca in the critically acclaimed 1977 adventure comedy film “The Rescuers” directed by John Lounsbery and Wolfgang Reitherman and also starring Bob Newhart and Geraldine Page. It follows two mice who are members of the Rescue Aid Society, as they search for a human girl who has been kidnapped; the film won two awards and was nominated for an Oscar for Best Music, Original Song.
Education and early life
Eva grew up in Budapest alongside her two older sisters, by their Hungarian Jewish parents; their father Vilmos was a soldier and mother Jolie a jeweler.
Not much has been revealed about Eva’s early life as she preferred to keep these details to herself; she enrolled a local high school in 1937, married the same year, moved to the US and then began attending auditions for film roles, soon launching her acting career.
Roles in movies
Eva’s debut film role was playing Johanna Van Deuren in the 1941 adventure “Forced Landing”, while some of her next roles were in the romantic musical “New York Town” and the mystery “Pacific Blackout”, both in 1941, and the 1942 musical comedy “Star Spangled Rhythm”.
She got recognition when cast to play Countess Demidow in the 1945 historical comedy “A Royal Scandal” directed by Otto Preminger and Ernst Lubitsch, starring Tallulah Bankhead, Charles Coburn and Anne Baxter. It follows Russian Lieutenant Chernov who has fallen in love with Empress Catherine the Great, when she has now appointed him Chief of the Imperial Guard. Throughout the rest of the 1940s, Eva appeared in the 1946 romantic adventure “The Wife of Monte Cristo” and the 1949 romantic musical “Song of Surrender.”
Perhaps what marked the 1950s for her was starring as Claire Ormond in the 1954 drama “The Mad Magician,” directed by John Brahm, and which also starred Vincent Price and Mary Murphy; it follows an illusionist whose magical secrets have been stolen. Some of Eva’s other film roles in the decade were in the 1954 action adventure ‘Captain Kidd and the Slave Girl’, the 1957 musical mystery comedy ‘My Man Godfrey’ and the 1958 crime drama ‘Touch of Evil’.
In 1963, she played Felicienne Courbeau in the romantic comedy “A New Kind of Love,” written and directed by Melville Shavelson, which also starred Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and Thelma Ritter. It follows journalist Steve Sherman as he interviews Samantha Blake, who he mistakenly believes to be an expensive call girl, and the film was nominated for four awards, including two Oscars for Best Costume Design and Best Music, Scoring of Music.
Eva voiced the lead character Duchess in the 1970 evergreen adventure comedy “The Aristocats” directed by Wolfgang Reitherman and also starring Phil Harris and Sterling Holloway. It follows a butler who kidnaps a family of Parisian felines after learning their caretaker has left them all of her fortune – the film won three awards.
Eva had only three roles in the 1970s: in the aforementioned 1977 animated adventure comedy “The Rescuers” (voice role), the 1978 comedy “Almost Heaven” and the 1979 animated family fantasy “Nutcracker Fantasy” (voice role).
She had roles in only four more films before her death, with her last three roles in the comedy “Return to Green Acres”, the animated adventure comedy “The Rescuers Down Under” (voice role) and the comedy “Close Encounters”, all released in 1990.
Roles in TV series
Eva’s TV series debut was in the 1949 episode “A Lodging for the Night” of the drama “Your Show Time”, and over the next few years she appeared in an episode of the crime mystery “The Adventures of Ellery Queen”. , the horror mystery “Tales of Tomorrow” and the drama “Pulitzer Prize Playhouse”.
Perhaps what characterized the 1950s for her was playing Elissa Carlton in two episodes (1956) of the drama “Climax!”, starring William Lundigan, Art Gilmore and Mary Costa, each episode presenting a different story ; the series aired from 1954 to 1958 and was nominated for 16 awards.
From 1965 to 1971, Eva played the role of Lisa Douglas in all 170 episodes of the critically acclaimed family comedy “Green Acres”, created by Jay Sommers, and which also starred Eddie Albert and Tom Lester. It follows a New York City lawyer and his wife who have moved to Hooterville, and the series was nominated for four awards. In the 1970s, Eva appeared in an episode of the comedy “Big Eddie”, the crime drama “Ellery Queen” and the crime drama “Rosetti and Ryan”.
In 1986, she played Maria Talbot in the drama “Bridges to Cross”, starring Suzanne Pleshette, Nicolas Surovy and Jose Ferrer, and follows divorced couple Peter Cross and Tracy Bridges as they work for the same newspaper.
Eva’s last three TV series roles were in a 1991 episode of the comedy “Dream On”, the 1992 episode “Honey’s First Job” of the comedy “Hi Honey, I’m Home” and the episode “Who Killed Romeo?” from 1994. of the crime mystery “Burke’s Law”.
Remembering Eva Gabor, the actress who played Lisa Douglas in Green Acres and voiced Duchess in The Aristocats and Miss Bianca in The Rescuers and The Rescuers Down Under. #EvaGabor pic.twitter.com/Zz7Df4NoOL
— Jake with the Ob (@mnralphie) February 12, 2019
Other credits
Eva performed songs in five movies and two TV series, including “I Met Him in Paris” in the 1941 movie “Pacific Blackout”, “Cancan” in the 1963 movie “A New Kind of Love” and “Green Acres” in the 1989 Movie “Green Acres, We Are There: Nick at Nite’s TV Talk Show”.
Some of Eva’s last talk show appearances were on “Vicki!”, “AFI Life Achievement Award” and “Hollywood Women”.
Awards and nominations
Eva received her own star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 23, 1984.
She was nominated for five awards: a 1958 Golden Laurel Award for Top Female Comedy Performance, for “Don’t Go Near the Water”, three Photoplay Gold Medals for Variety Star in 1975, 1976, and 1978, and a TV Land Award from 2004 for Favorite ‘Fish Out of Water’, for “Green Acres” (posthumous).
Love life and marriages
Eva was married five times, but had no children. Her first husband was Swedish-born American masseur, psychologist and osteopath Eric Valdemar Drimmer; they were married in London, England in June 1937 and divorced in Los Angeles on March 6, 1942. Eva claimed that the reason behind their divorce was that she wanted to have children, and he did not.
She married her second husband, American investment broker Charles Isaacs, on September 27, 1943, and their divorce was finalized on April 2, 1949.
Eva’s third husband American plastic surgeon John Elbert Williams; they exchanged vows on April 8, 1956, but divorced on March 20, 1957.
She married her fourth husband, American textile manufacturer, screenwriter and director Richard Brown, on October 4, 1959, and divorced him in June 1973.
On this day in 1919, Eva Gabor was born. The Hungarian-American actress, businesswoman, singer and socialite. She was…
Posted by Antenna TV on Tuesday, February 11, 2020
Eva and her fifth husband Frank Gard Jameson Sr., the late American aerospace director and vice president of Rockwell International, were married on September 21, 1973, and divorced in 1983.
She also dated Canadian-American actor Gwyllyn Samuel Newton “Glenn” Ford in 1957, and from 1984 until her death, Eva dated American TV host and media mogul Mervyn Edward Griffin Jr. the marriage was an experiment, and that it would be a shame if someone was married only once.
Interesting facts and hobbies
Passionate about fashion, Eva launched her fashion collection ‘Eva Gabor’ in 1972, in collaboration with American fashion designer Luis Estevez. She was also a big fan of diamonds and velvet.
Both of Eva’s sisters were married to the late American actor and screenwriter George Sanders: Zsa Zsa from 1949 to 1954, and Magda in 1970 and 1971.
Death, appearance and wealth
Eva died of pneumonia and respiratory failure on July 4, 1995 (Independence Day) at the age of 76, after falling into a bathtub. She was survived by her mother, as she died two years after Eva.
She had brown eyes and hair, was 1.59 m tall and weighed about 52 kg.
Eve’s ability was estimated at over $30 million at the time of her death.
