Zsa Zsa Gabor has successful surgery on hip

LOS ANGELES — Zsa Zsa Gabor's husband thinks she'll be watching "Jeopardy" again in no time.

Prince Frederic von Anhalt, the 93-year-old actress' eccentric husband, told a throng of reporters gathered outside their Bel-Air home Monday that Gabor underwent successful surgery to replace her right hip, which she broke over the weekend while watching her favorite game show. He said she tumbled to the floor when she tried to answer the phone.

"It's just bad luck," von Anhalt said. "It could happen to anyone."

Gabor, who has to use a wheelchair after being partially paralyzed in a 2002 car accident, was in surgery for 3½ hours at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center, according to von Anhalt. He said she remained heavily sedated but in good spirits Monday and would likely be recuperating in the hospital for four or five days before returning home.

The 65-year-old socialite entered California governor's race as an independent in the primary but has not yet filed to run in the general election. His platform includes legalizing marijuana and prostitution and lifting the ban on Cuban cigars, then taxing them all. He said he would hold off on his campaign if Gabor's condition does not improve.

"If my wife doesn't recover the way I would like to see it, he said, "then I will skip it."

His 1986 marriage to Gabor was his seventh and her ninth. Before von Anhalt met her, he worked as a bank clerk, screenwriter and sauna manager, acquiring his royal title along the way. After his parents died, he said he was adopted by a German princess who gave him the title of Prince Frederic von Anhalt of Munich, the Duke of Saxony.

According to her biography at The Internet Movie Database (IMDB), Gabor was born in Budapest as Sari Gabor and followed her sister, Eva ("Green Acres"), to Hollywood.

Gabor broke into movies in 1952 in MGM's "Lovely to Look At," IMDB said. Her big break, it said, was starring opposite Jose Ferrer in "Moulin Rouge." Other '50s films included "Death of a Scoundrel" and "The Man Who Wouldn't Talk."

Her 1991 role in "The Naked Gun 2-1/2: The Smell of Fear" poked fun at a 1990 incident when she was convicted of slapping a police officer in the face during a traffic dispute and spent several days in jail, IMDB said.

She is also famous for a reported nine marriages.