What Was Eva Gabor's Net Worth?
Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-American actress, singer, and socialite who had a net worth of $30 million at the time of her death in 1995. Eva Gabor was best known for playing Hungarian-born socialite Lisa Douglas on the television sitcom Green Acres, which aired from 1965 to 1971. In later years, the Cable News Network would refer to the character as one of the "most stylish TV housewives of all time."
Early Years
Eva Gabor was born on February 11, 1919, in Budapest, Hungary. Her father, Vilmos Gabor, was a Hungarian army colonel. Her parents welcomed three children – Zsa-Zsa, Magda, and Eva—before deciding to divorce in 1939. Gabor's mother, Janka Tilleman, married two more times.
Film
Gabor immigrated to America following her marriage to Dr. Eric Valdemar Drimmer in 1937. She obtained her first movie role four years later in the Paramount Pictures action film "Forced Landing," in which she played the character of Johanna Van Deuren. Later that year, Eva played the character of Marie Duval in the Paramount mystery film "Pacific Blackout" as well as an uncredited part in the romantic comedy film "New York Town." Gabor would go on to appear in nearly two dozen additional films, such as "The Mad Magician" with Vincent Price in 1954, "A New Kind of Love" with Paul Newman in 1963, and "The Princess Academy" in 1987.
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Theatre
From 1950 to 1951, Gabor played Mignonette in the musical "The Happy Time." In 1956, she portrayed Gabrielle in "Little Glass Clock" at the John Golden Theatre in New York City and later played Joanna Lyppiatt in the 1958 production of the comic Noel Coward play "Present Laughter."
In 1963, Eva portrayed Tatiana at the Winter Garden Theatre in New York City during its run of the stage musical "Tovarich." In 1983, she appeared as the Grand Duchess Olga Katrina in the Broadway production of the comedic three-act play "You Can't Take It with You."
Voice Work
Gabor voiced several characters for animated films, such as the Duchess in the 1970 comedy "The Aristocats," Miss Bianca in the 1977 adventure "The Rescuers" and the Queen of Time in the 1979 Japanese-American stop-motion film "Nutcracker Fantasy." She resumed providing the voice of Miss Bianca in the 1990 animated adventure "The Rescuers Down Under."
Television
In 1953, the weekly "Eva Gabor Talk Show" aired for one season, with Gabor welcoming an array of celebrity guests. She appeared in an episode of the 1950s television mystery series "Justice" and on the panel game show "What's My Line?" In 1966, she was a guest on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." From 1983 to 1984, Eva took part in the television panel game show "Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour."
Gabor played Aunt Renee in the American mystery television series "Hart to Hart," starring Jonathan Wagner and Stephanie Powers, in 1983, and she appeared in numerous other television shows such as "Fantasy Island" and "The Edge of Night."
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"Green Acres"
In 1965, Gabor began playing Lisa Douglas, the leading female character – and the glamorous socialite wife of New York attorney Oliver Wendell Douglas – in the CBS situation comedy "Green Acres." The show followed the antics that occurred after the couple moved from the city to the Midwest, where they began operating a farm. The show remained one of the top 20 most popular shows for four seasons but was among the rural-set shows that CBS decided to cancel in 1971.
Fashion
In 1972, Eva launched her fashion collection in collaboration with Cuban-American designer Luis Estevez. She also marketed wigs from her Gabor Luxury Collection, Gabor Designer Series Collection, and Gabor Next Collection – all facets of Eva Gabor International, which became the largest producer of wigs in the world. In addition, she marketed wig products, including shampoo, conditioner, hairspray, and brushes.
Accolades
Gabor was awarded a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on October 23, 1984.
Personal Life
On June 3, 1937, Gabor married Eric Drimmer, a Swedish osteopath and psychologist, in London. They divorced on February 25, 1942, after she claimed that she desired to have children, and Drimmer objected to her becoming a mother.
On September 27, 1943, Eva married Charles Isaacs, an American investment broker. They divorced on April 2, 1949.
Gabor married plastic surgeon Dr. John Elbert Williams on April 8, 1956. They were divorced on March 20, 1957.
On October 4, 1959, in Las Vegas, Nevada, she married textile manufacturer Richard Brown and gained two stepdaughters, Mary and Joanne. The couple divorced in June 1973.
Gabor's final marriage was to aerospace executive Frank Gard Jameson Sr., whom she wed in Claremont, California, on September 21, 1973. They divorced in 1983.
Eva never had any biological children. From the time of her last divorce until the time of her death, she remained constant companions with American television show host and media executive Merv Griffin. The relationship was claimed by Gabor to be totally platonic.
Death
Eva Gabor died on July 4, 1995, in Los Angeles, California, from pneumonia and respiratory failure shortly after falling in the bathtub while on vacation in Mexico. Her funeral was held at Good Shepherd Catholic Church in Beverly Hills, California. She was buried in Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery in Los Angeles, California. Her epitaph reads, "Our darling Eva – We love you – You are in our hearts forever."
Holmby Hills Mansion
From 1975 until her death 20 years later, Eva lived in a stately mansion in LA's exclusive enclave of Holmby Hills located at 100 Delfern Drive. Her estate sold this home in 1996 for $2.1 million. It sold again in 2019 for $11 million. In September 2019, the new owner performed a partial gut renovation and demolition without permits. When local commissioners discovered what had happened they halted the project and attempted to bestow historic landmark status on the property. Ultimately the property lost its preservation vote 3 to 2, partly because it had been determined that the renovation had already caused too much damage to leave anything left historical to preserve.
