Actress, Photographer, Comedian Constance Francesca Gabor Hilton 2015 Westwood Village Cemetery

Constance Francesca Gabor Hilton (March 10, 1947 – January 5, 2015) was an American actress, photographer and comedian. She was the only daughter of Hilton Hotel founder Conrad Hilton with his second wife, actress and socialite Zsa Zsa Gabor.

Early life

Francesca Hilton was born in 1947 in New York City.[1][2]

Her father, Conrad Nicholas Hilton, was the founder of the Hilton Hotel chain.[1][3][4] Her mother, Zsa Zsa Gabor, was a Hungarian-born actress and socialite.[1][3][4] She was the only child of Zsa Zsa Gabor and therefore the only descendant of the Gabor sisters as well as the only daughter of Conrad Hilton. Her three half-brothers are Conrad Nicholson Hilton, Jr. (1926-1969); William Barron Hilton (born 1927);[3] and Eric Michael Hilton (1933-2016). She attended movie premieres with her mother and competed in equestrian competitions as a child.[2][3] In 1947, while Hilton was an infant, a burglar entered their home and tied up Zsa Zsa Gabor and their housekeeper, and threatened to kill Francesca. The burglar stole jewelry worth over $750,000.[5]

She worked in reservations at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California during summers as a teenager.[1] When her father died in 1979, he left most of his wealth to the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.[1] She contested the will, which left her only $100,000, but lost the suit.[1][3]

Career

She starred in A Safe Place in 1971[1][2] and The Gravy Train in 1974. She worked as a photographer in the 1980s.[1][2] She also worked for the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation.[3]

In 2008, she started a new career as a comedian, performing on a regular basis at The Comedy Store in West Hollywood.[1] Her show talked about her family.[6] She joked that her great-nieces, Paris Hilton and Nicky Hilton, were "pole dancers and porn stars."[6]

According to her publicist, Edward Lozzi, she was writing an autobiography shortly before she died in 2015.[1][2] Its title was scheduled to be Hotels, Diamonds and Me.[7]

Personal life

Hilton resided in Los Angeles most of her life.[1] She was engaged to Michael Natsis.[1][4]

On June 1, 2005, her stepfather, Frédéric Prinz von Anhalt, filed suit against her in a California court and accused her of fraud. The Court threw out the case for lack of evidence.[1] Hilton denied the allegations.[1] Hilton lived in West Hollywood apartments for the last 9 years of her life. After her mother Zsa Zsa Gabor became incapacitated (including loss of voice, total dementia, hearing and eyesight) and left to the care of her stepfather, Francesca was totally cut off financially. She did not have any children.

Death and burial

She died at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on January 5, 2015 after suffering a major stroke.[1][2][4] She was just over two months short of her 68th birthday.[1][2][4] Her stepfather's fight to take possession of her body was rejected by the Los Angeles coroner, and so her body remained in a morgue until her half-brother Barron Hilton was given her body. Her family and Francesca's close friends arranged her funeral.[3] She was survived by her then close-to-98-year-old mother, Zsa Zsa Gabor, who was suffering from dementia so was unaware of her daughter's death and was never told before her own death in December 2016.[2]

Her funeral was held at St. Ambrose Catholic Church, West Hollywood.[8] She was cremated. Her ashes were interred at the Westwood Village Memorial Park Cemetery close to her mother and her aunt Eva Gabor.[6][9]

References

1. Kurtis Lee, Francesca Hilton, daughter of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Conrad Hilton, dies at 67, The Los Angeles Times, January 6, 2015. 
2. Mike Barnes, Francesca Hilton, Daughter of Zsa Zsa Gabor, Dies at 67, The Hollywood Reporter, January 6, 2015 
3. Danielle and Andy Mayoras, The Tragedy of Francesca Hilton, Daughter of Zsa Zsa Gabor and Hilton Founder, Forbes, January 13, 2015 
4. Ann Oldenburg, Francesa Hilton, Zsa Zsa Gabor's daughter, dies, USA Today, January 6, 2015 
5. "Owerpowers Two Women; Threatens To Murder Child". Logansport Pharaos Tribune. October 4, 1947. p. 1. 
6. Francesca Hilton, The Times, January 22, 2015 
7. Wendy Leigh, "Why Zsa Zsa's only child died a down and out: She dated Peter Sellers and was Liz Taylor's sister-in-law. Here a biographer who knew her reveals how her mother's lack of love shaped her life", The Daily Mail, January 8, 2015. 
8. Francesca Hilton burial, radaronline.com; accessed May 27, 2015. 
9. Francesca Hilton, daughter of Zsa Zsa Gabor, dies aged 67, reuters.com, January 6, 2015.