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Delicious,
charming, and divine, Eva Gabor was born in Budapest, Hungary on
Feb 11 1926 (or perhaps it was 1919. Sources vary, and let's face
it, a lady never tells!) She was the baby of the family -- her big
sisters were Magda and Sari (better known as Zsa Zsa) -- and the
first to emigrate to the United States. Miss Gabor signed a contract
with Paramount Pictures shortly after her arrival in the U.S., and
she appeared in many films and stage productions in the 1950s. A
little known biography note although it seems incredible now, Miss
Gabor was not the first choice for the role of Lisa. Jay Sommers
wanted actress Martha Hyer, who was known for playing cool rich-girl
roles; Hyer, however, wanted too much money. Sommers had in mind
a more "all-American" actress to play the role before finally being
persuaded by Paul Henning to cast the Hungarian beauty. Henning
and his wife had seen Miss Gabor in the Broadway play The Happy
Time a few years prior, and he believed Miss Gabor's glamour was
the perfect foil for the country-bumpkin setting of Green Acres.
Luckily, Henning's good instincts prevailed.
Off-screen, Miss Gabor was great friends with co-star Eddie Albert
and his wife, Margo. Miss Gabor and Albert were reunited on-stage
in the 1983 Broadway production of You Can't Take it With You,
and in the Green Acres reunion, Return to Green Acres, in
1991. Miss Gabor is also easily identifiable as the voice of Bianca
in Disney's The Rescuers (1977) and The Rescuers Down
Under (1990), and as well the refined and elegant cat Duchess
in Disney's The Aristocats (1970). Miss Gabor died in 1995
in Los Angeles, California, and the world has been a far less fabulous
place ever since.
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