Everything Zsa Zsa Gabor Said About Her 9 Husbands

We may receive a commission on purchases made from links.

For generations, marriage was presented as a one-time, irreversible commitment, but nowadays, there's less stigma in some cultures regarding being married multiple times — which is perhaps why there is one divorce every 42 seconds in America. Normal folk aren't the only ones walking down the aisle more than once. Drew Barrymore, Harrison Ford, and Kim Kardashian, for example, have all been married three times. And there are even some celebs who have been married four or more times.

That's nothing compared to Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was married nine — yes, nine — times. It perhaps comes as no surprise, then, that Zsa Zsa Gabor's relationship history is full of ups and downs, and even includes one marriage that lasted for just a single day. Given that Gabor first married at the young age of 18, making her one of many celebs who were married and divorced before 30, she spent the majority of her life as a bride and learned a lot about love — and men — during that time. To that end, here's everything she said about her nine husbands.

It's hard to imagine a time before Zsa Zsa Gabor was a household name, but back in the 1930s, she went by Sári and had little fame. In the middle of that decade, the young Gabor married Burhan Belge, a Turkish diplomat and politician who was nearly 20 years her senior. Around the same time, Gabor was crowned Miss Hungary — although the title was taken away from her as she reportedly lied about her age to enter the competition. Nonetheless, winning the title became the first taste of fame for Gabor.

Despite being one of her longer-lasting marriages (more on that to come), it sure does not seem like her time with Belge was exactly romantic. As she wrote in her memoir, "One Lifetime is Not Enough," "However loveless it had been, my marriage to Burhan had not been a waste of time. I was an Excellency's wife ... There was one further advantage — in the shape of diplomatic passport — essential to escaping war-ravaged Europe."  By 1941, she had divorced Belge and departed Europe for a life in Tinseltown.

After moving to Hollywood to pursue a career in acting, Zsa Zsa Gabor met and married hotel magnate Conrad Hilton. Much like in her first marriage, the age gap between Gabor and Conrad spanned decades; she was 30 years his junior. Gabor and Conrad reportedly also struggled with a language barrier, in addition to rumors that she only married him for money. Perhaps that's why biographer Sam Staggs later wrote in "Finding Zsa Zsa," "Hilton married her against his better judgment."

Conrad wasn't the only one with reservations, as Gabor was clearly unhappy, too. "I soon discovered that my marriage to Conrad meant the end of my freedom," she wrote in her 1991 memoir, "One Lifetime is Not Enough." "My own needs were completely ignored: I belonged to Conrad." In other remarks about her marriage, Gabor spoke about longing for a deeper connection. "I gazed ardently into Conrad's clear blue eyes and whispered, 'Conrad, what are you thinking of?'" she wrote of their wedding night. To that, Conrad replied that he had a big hotel deal on his mind.

Regardless of their marriage woes, Gabor and Conrad stayed together for five years and, during that time, welcomed daughter Constance Francesca Hilton (pictured above). In 1947, the same year their child was born, the pair called time on their nuptials and went their separate ways. Interestingly, Gabor did not receive a big pay out, despite Conrad's massive net worth. As such, their split is not considered one of the priciest celebrity divorces. "She got very little out of that settlement, not even free privileges to stay in Hilton hotels," Darwin Porter, a friend of the Gabor family told Realtor.com.

As her film career began to pick up, Zsa Zsa Gabor picked out her third husband. In 1949 she wed fellow actor George Sanders, whom she evidently adored in comparison to her previous husbands. "Mr. Sanders, I'm madly in love with you," she said upon first meeting him, per Vanity Fair, later going on to profess: "If I could live my entire life over again, I would spend every minute of it with George."

Sadly, she did not spend every minute with Sanders. After six years of marriage, in 1954, Gabor and her third husband split. "We were both in love with him. I fell out of love with him but he didn't," Gabor said, via Grazia, of the reason she and Sanders divorced. Gabor's enduring love for Sanders is perhaps why, when Sanders died years later, Gabor described him as the "major love of my life," per the Los Angeles Times.

After three failed marriages, Zsa Zsa Gabor walked down the aisle once again in 1962. She and wealthy businessman Herbert L. Hutner said "I do" in a low-key civil ceremony. Per the Los Angeles Times, of her fourth husband, Gabor said, "I am going to work very hard to make it my last." Well, we all know how that played out. Gabor's intention aside, her marriage to Hutner didn't last either. Their marriage came to an end in 1966.

In her aforementioned memoir, Gabor did offer some insight into how he treated her. "Herbert took away my will to work," she wrote in "One Lifetime is Not Enough." "With his kindness and generosity, he almost annihilated my drive. I have always been the kind of woman who could never be satisfied by money — only by excitement and achievement." Make of that what you choose.

Following her fourth divorce in 1966, Zsa Zsa Gabor gave marriage another go that same year. The "Moulin Rouge" and "Touch of Evil" star tied the knot with yet another businessman — this time, a Texan oil tycoon — by the name of Joshua S. Cosden Jr. At the wedding, Gabor told reporters that she and Cosden Jr. had met just six weeks prior — which is arguably why their romance lasted less than a year, with Gabor and Cosden Jr. divorcing in 1967.

Reflecting on their short relationship, Gabor wrote in "One Lifetime is Not Enough," "I had gone into the marriage not really knowing him and I left none the wiser. All I had really discerned was that our values clashed. Joshua was prejudiced and I wasn't, and he was more wed to high society than I had ever been or ever wanted to be." 

After several consecutive marriages, Zsa Zsa Gabor took a years-long break before becoming a bride again. In 1975, she wed Mattel mogul Jack Ryan, who was one of the designers behind the forever beloved Barbie doll. 

Gabor and Ryan first crossed paths at a party, and evidently they hit it off straight away. "Jack was intelligent and fascinating," she wrote in "One Lifetime is Not Enough" of her sixth husband. "The first time we had ever really talked, I was thoroughly beguiled by him. The next day, he called me and invited me to lunch at his house, a vast mansion complete with fifty-three telephones (each with an individual ring that resembled the call of a particular bird) and eighteen bedrooms." Talk about a real-life Barbie Dreamhouse. Unfortunately, that magic must have worn off pretty quickly as — spoiler alert! — Gabor and Ryan divorced after just 18 months.

With so many marriages — and divorces — under her belt, it was only a matter of time before Zsa Zsa Gabor fell in love with a divorce lawyer. And that she did. In 1976, Gabor wed Michael O'Hara who, ironically, represented her in her divorce from Jack Ryan. As if that wasn't awkward enough, Gabor and O'Hara's nuptials even took place in the same venue — the Las Vegas Hilton — that she and Ryan had wed at just a year earlier. "The chapel owner blinked as if to say, 'I saw you here not long ago'," she recalled in "One Lifetime is Not Enough." By Gabor's account, she fell for O'Hara during their very first meeting. "The moment I set eyes on Michael, I was enthralled by him," she wrote.

Love at first sight or not, things eventually deteriorated between Gabor and O'Hara. As the rose-tinted glasses began to fade, Gabor began to recognize his "moodiness." "I did suffer during my marriage to Michael," she wrote in "One Lifetime is Not Enough." "I suffered because I loved him, because he loved me, and because, ultimately, everything changed. ... And that he is the only ex-husband who is still not my friend." The pair divorced in 1982.

After an eight-year marriage to Michael O'Hara, Zsa Zsa Gabor wasted no time in finding another husband. In 1982, the same year she and O'Hara ended their nuptials, she wed once again. This time, dressed in pink aboard her sister's stunning yacht in Mexico's Puerto Vallarta, Gabor said "I do" with actor Felipe de Alba... although, ultimately, the court said, "I don't." Their one-day union was annulled as it turned out Gabor's divorce from O'Hara was not yet finalized. "It was momentary craziness and everyone knew it," she wrote in "One Lifetime is Not Enough" of her fleeting marriage to de Alba. 

Arguably, that technicality offered Gabor a lucky escape. "He bored me," she said of her eighth husband, per the Los Angeles Times. "He's a playboy, and I'm a hard-working actress." Unsurprisingly, then, Gabor and de Alba's split did not make the list of celebrity divorces we didn't see coming.

As they famously say, ninth time's a charm... right? Well, if Zsa Zsa Gabor is anything to go by, that's true. In 1986, she wed socialite Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, who was almost 30 years younger than her. Despite being her most enduring love affair — with Gabor and Anhalt remaining married until her death in 2016, making their partnership one of the long-lasting celebrity relationships that are older than all of Gen Z — fans were, and still are, skeptical about the pairing. Like Gabor, Anhalt had been married numerous times before, and even paid a paparazzo $10,000 to be introduced to her.

Writing in "Finding Zsa Zsa: The Gabors Behind the Legend," biographer Sam Staggs likened Gabor and Anhalt's marriage to "a Danielle Steel novel or bad TV drama." In the book, Staggs also claimed that Anhalt isolated Gabor from her family. That could be the reason her mother and sister did not attend the ceremony, which took place at Gabor's Bel Air estate.

Critics be darned, Gabor always spoke fondly of her ninth and final husband. "I liked how he looked; I liked how he talked," Gabor told Vanity Fair in 2007 of her first impression of Anhalt. "I liked everything about him." She went on: "We have a very good marriage."