Zsa Zsa Gabor honored at funeral mass in Beverly Hills
BEVERLY HILLS, Calif. -- Zsa Zsa Gabor was remembered Friday during a funeral mass for being the epitome of Hollywood glamour, an elegant and attention-seeking actress who paved the way for future generations of celebrities.
Around 100 mourners gathered Friday at the picturesque Church of the Good Shepherd in Beverly Hills to pay respects to Gabor, who died Dec. 18 from a heart attack at age 99.
Elaborate floral arrangements flanked the altar, where a painting Gabor made of one of her horses and a photo of Hungarian-American actress were displayed, emblazoned with the words, “Farewell My Love.”
Gabor’s husband, Frederic von Anhalt, gave a 40-minute eulogy that focused on Gabor’s thirst for the limelight.
“I want to remember the way she walked the red carpet,” von Anhalt said. “She loved it so much. Her life was only red carpet, nothing else.” He said Gabor would often duck out of events after walking the red carpet because that was the only element she was interested in.
He also recounted his wife’s 1989 arrest and conviction after slapping a Beverly Hills police officer, saying Gabor turned the incident into a publicity device and a template for future generations of troubled starlets.
He said his wife’s name will live on forever, in part thanks to her star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
“She will never be forgotten because she has her Hollywood star,” von Anhalt said. “It will always be Zsa Zsa Gabor. It will never end.”
Gabor married nine times, although one shipboard ceremony was quickly annulled and was of questionable legality. She married von Anhalt in 1986, who along with a team of nurses cared for her in their Bel Air home in recent years. Von Anhalt continued to throw her lavish birthday celebrations even after she could no longer attend, and reported her maladies dutifully to the media.
Von Anhalt urged mourners to remember Gabor for her glamorous days.
“Keep her in your heart, the way she was,” he said. “The way she was in Hollywood.”
