Zsa Zsa Gabor died 'peacefully without pain'

20 December 2016

Zsa Zsa Gabor died "peacefully without pain".

Zsa Zsa Gabor

The 99-year-old actress passed away at her Bel-Air, Los Angeles home over the weekend after suffering a heart attack and her husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, insisted Zsa Zsa didn't suffer at the end.

He said: "It just took 30 seconds and the doctor came out and said 'Look, there's nothing we can do any more. She passed away'.

"There was no pain. She didn't scream or complain about anything. There is no pain pill in the house. She never had any pain over the years, it was just her blood pressure.

"The way I see it, when I felt her hand and it was cold already, she was slowly slipping away peacefully without pain and it was just the time for her to go. She wanted to go."

Throughout her longstanding career, the Hungarian-American actress - whose film credits include 'Queen of Outer Space', 'Touch of Evil' and 'Death of a Scoundrel' - was best known for her celebrity lifestyle and is thought to be the first celebrity who was famous for being famous.

Gabor had a string of health problems in her final years. In 2002, she was involved in a car crash in Sunset Boulevard, Los Angeles, where she was left partially paralysed and confined to a wheelchair.

In 2005 and again in 2007, she suffered strokes whilst in 2010, she had hip replacement surgery after she fractured the joint, meaning she was in and out of hospital.

A year later, Gabor had to have her right leg amputated in life-saving surgery after it was infected with gangrene from what is believed to have started from a massive blood clot.

Earlier this year, just days after her 99th birthday, Gabor was rushed to hospital with breathing difficulties. She was later diagnosed with a feeding tube-related lung infection.

Her husband held birthday parties for the star each year for the last few years despite Gabor being unable to leave her bedroom.

Gabor - who is survived by her husband - outlived her only daughter Francesca Gabor Hilton, who sadly passed away in January 2015 at the age of 67 after suffering a huge stroke. She also outlived her sisters Eva and Magda, who died in 1995 and 1997 respectively.