Showing posts with label Jolie Gabor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jolie Gabor. Show all posts

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend by Sam Staggs

Finding Zsa Zsa
The Gabors Behind the Legend
by Sam Staggs
Kensington Books
July 2019
448 pages
Hardcover ISBN: 9781496719591
AmazonBarnes and Noble Powells

Before the Kardashians there were the Gabors. Zsa Zsa, Eva, Magda and the queen of the tribe Jolie, the Gabors were a force to be reckoned with. Between the four of them they had over 20 husbands. Their family name was synonymous with glamour, wealth, jewels and fame. When they came over from Hungary, they took America by storm.

Jolie was the strong-willed matriarch who commanded her daughters' respect and taught them to crave the good life. She ran a well-known jewelry store in New York. Magda was the serious, quiet one. She saw the horrors of WWII and helped smuggle soldiers, civilians and goods in and out of Hungary. By way of Portugal she was able to get herself and her parents out of Europe and away from the Nazis. Eva Gabor was the youngest of the brood and between Zsa Zsa and herself she took acting the most seriously. She worked in films and television throughout her life but always felt her thick Hungarian accent held her back. Then there was Zsa Zsa. The most famous of them all. Between her movie career, nine husbands, arrests and public scandals, she became a tabloid regular and a living legend. She suffered from bipolar disorder and her notoriety fascinated the public. She domineered the story of the Gabors and still does to this day.

Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend by Sam Staggs is the cradle to grave story of the four Gabors. But like in real life, Zsa Zsa dominates the book because frankly she was the most interesting. However, Staggs gives all four ladies their chance in the spotlight. Staggs breaks down misconceptions of the Gabors as being famous for being famous. All four ladies were hard working and ambitious. The least ambitious was Zsa Zsa who was more preoccupied with glamour, parties and husbands than she was a career.

This story blends the four biographies together in a fairly seamless way. It's for the most part chronological but dips back in time occasionally depend on the subject. The book can be a bit salacious especially when it came to the romantic lives of the Gabors (both Zsa Zsa and Magda were married to actor George Sanders). There are a lot of juicy details there but I never felt like the author went too far or was trying to be hurtful. The author does interject with various quips and opinions about various matters which I took with a grain of salt. Overall the book reads like a novel which makes the 400+ pages fly by.

I have a personal interest in the Gabors. My father lived in California during the early 1970s and once met Zsa Zsa Gabor when he was working on her pool. He was from Portugal so I was particularly fascinated by Magda's story of her connections with the Portuguese embassy and how she was able to get her family out of Hungary. On the flip side of this, my mother is Dominican and was born into dictator Trujillo's regime. Reading about Zsa Zsa Gabor's romance with Trujillo's son Ramfis and former son-in-law Porfirio Rubirosa left a bad taste in my mouth. Zsa Zsa benefited financially from these romances during a time when Trujillo was ordering the massacre of Haitians and killing Dominicans who opposed him.

The saddest figure in the book is Francesca Hilton, the only child of Zsa Zsa Gabor. Her paternity was never verified but Gabor's husband Conrad Hilton is known as the father. She was never fully embraced by the Hilton family and Gabor's last husband ostracized her. She died in poverty. The author was in contact with Francesca for several years while working on the book and she's a main source of information. One thing I appreciated about the book is how well-researched it is. Staggs references the Gabor's memoirs but fact checks or finds alternate sources to verify stories or at least offer various scenarios. The Gabors were very preoccupied with how they presented themselves to the world so their accounts were often fabricated or exaggerated.

There is some information about Eva and Zsa Zsa Gabor's Hollywood careers. I was particularly interested in Eva who seems fairly misunderstood. She wanted to hone her craft but her accent and family notoriety got in the way.

Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend by Sam Staggs dives deep into the lives of one of the most glamorous families of the 20th century. It offers a compelling blend of storytelling, gossip and facts which will keep readers turning the page. The salaciousness might turn off some readers and if you're looking for an examination of the Gabors' Hollywood career, look elsewhere.



This is my fourth review for the Summer Reading Challenge.

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