Vegas Magazine - Niche Media - There is a place beyond the crowds, beyond the ropes, where dreams are realized and success is celebrated. You are invited.
Issue link: http://digital.greengale.com/i/78247
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BETTMAN/CORBIS F ront Runners ZSA ZSA GABOR'S OUTRAGEOUSLY EXPENSIVE GOWN SET THE STAGE FOR VEGAS'S OVER-THE-TOP GLAMOUR. BY CHELSEA STONE bejeweled bombshell S marry for love, and keep on marrying until she finds it." V 16 VEGASMAGAZINE.COM he may have been one of Hollywood's most notorious blondes, but Zsa Zsa Gabor was more famous for her razor-sharp wit, dripping diamonds, and tabloid headlines than her acting. Even so, the diva never failed to exude the mystery and glamour of Old Hollywood—especially when she performed on the Vegas stage. Such star quality demands equally sensational attire and setting. Just ask Lou Walters, owner of the famed Latin Quarter nightclub in Miami: He hired Gabor to perform at his Latin Quarter offshoot in Vegas's Riviera Hotel & Casino. The entrepreneur (and father of broadcasting legend Barbara Walters) put Gabor in an outrageous $17,000 peach-colored gown with simulated diamonds for her September 12, 1956, Riviera debut. The rhinestone- encrusted dress was so delicate that Gabor didn't dare to bow after her sultry performance. The Hungarian-born star was no stranger to the Vegas spotlight; she and her sisters, Magda and Eva, performed at the Last Frontier Hotel in 1953 for a reported $500,000—big money at the time. The icon would later return to Sin City in 1970 for a performance at the Flamingo that was attended by actresses Lana Turner, Rita Hayworth, Jeanne Crain, Margaret O'Brien, and Arlene Dahl. Her most notable—and frequent—Vegas appearances, however, were not onstage. Of her nine marriages, three took place in Las Vegas. There was actor George Sanders in 1949 at Little Church of the West (her third marriage), millionaire inventor Jack Ryan in the bridal suite at Caesars Palace in 1975 (sixth), and, just three days after divorcing Ryan in 1976, her divorce attorney, Michael O'Hara, in the bridal suite of the Las Vegas Hilton (ironically, a hotel owned by her second husband, Conrad Hilton). Gabor once said, "A girl must