Folk Figure. The mother of Zsa Zsa, Eva, and Magda Gabor. Born in Hungary, she was named Janka ("Johnny") by her parents, who had wanted a boy. Escaping her dull first marriage to Vilmos Gabor, her own hopes of stardom tarnished, she took to pushing her daughters towards fame and fortune with a vengeance. "You will be rich, famous and married to kings," she told them. With that end in sight she drove them to master everything they began. She made it to America in 1939, divorced and with only $100 and a big diamond to her name. On the other hand Zsa Zsa had gotten here first and married hotel baron Conrad Hilton. With Zsa Zsa's help Jolie set herself up with a jewelry shop on Madison Avenue. Like her daughters she called everyone "Dahlingk," loved parties and was always ready to pawn a diamond to pay for champagne. "Life's a gamble," she said, "you must know how to play it." She published an autobiography and a cookbook of her family's favorite recipes, all heavy on paprika and sour cream. In 1966 Jolie and her husband, Count Odon de Szigethy, bought a modest home in Ridgefield, Connecticut and immediately set about glamorizing the place. "I like to make from a nothing something," she told the press. The de Szigethys sold the place in 1970. She died at the age of 100, with 21 husbands between her three daughters and herself.

Folk Figure. The mother of Zsa Zsa, Eva, and Magda Gabor. Born in Hungary, she was named Janka ("Johnny") by her parents, who had wanted a boy. Escaping her dull first marriage to Vilmos Gabor, her own hopes of stardom tarnished, she took to pushing her daughters towards fame and fortune with a vengeance. "You will be rich, famous and married to kings," she told them. With that end in sight she drove them to master everything they began. She made it to America in 1939, divorced and with only $100 and a big diamond to her name. On the other hand Zsa Zsa had gotten here first and married hotel baron Conrad Hilton. With Zsa Zsa's help Jolie set herself up with a jewelry shop on Madison Avenue. Like her daughters she called everyone "Dahlingk," loved parties and was always ready to pawn a diamond to pay for champagne. "Life's a gamble," she said, "you must know how to play it." She published an autobiography and a cookbook of her family's favorite recipes, all heavy on paprika and sour cream. In 1966 Jolie and her husband, Count Odon de Szigethy, bought a modest home in Ridgefield, Connecticut and immediately set about glamorizing the place. "I like to make from a nothing something," she told the press. The de Szigethys sold the place in 1970. She died at the age of 100, with 21 husbands between her three daughters and herself.

Bio by: D C McJonathan-Swarm