NOTES
The original filing of Constance Francesca Hilton’s contesting of Conrad Hilton’s will on March 13, 1979, by her attorneys, Belcher, Henzie & Biegenzahn, listed the litigants in this manner:
Constance Francesca Hilton, Contestant, vs. Frances Kelly Hilton; William Barron Hilton; Eric Michael Hilton; Conrad Nicholson Hilton III; Michael Otis Hilton; Helen Buckley; Rosemary Carpenter; Eva Lewis; Connie Ann Clarke Whithead; Anthony Carpenter; Hilton Brown, Sally Leslie; Carolyn Hines; Jack Lewis; Merilee Hilton McCoy; Carl Hilton, Jr.; William Hilton; Mrs. Robert Dillard; Felice Brown Heffinger; William Barron Hilton, Jr.; Hawley Ann Hilton McAuliffe; Steven Michael Hilton; David Alan Hilton; Sharon Constance Hilton Clemm; Richard Howard Hilton; Daniel Kevin Hilton; Ronald Jeffrey Hilton; Eric Michael Hilton, Jr.; Beverly Ann Hilton; Linda Marie Hilton; Joseph Bradley Hilton; Olive M. Wakeman; Hugo Mentz; Sister Francetta Barberis; James E. Bates; Spearl Ellison, Trustee; Donald H. Hubbs, Trustee; Sam D. Young, Trustee; El Paso National Bank, Trustee; The California Province of the Society of Jesus; Mayo Foundation; Conrad N. Hilton Foundation, George Deukmajian, Attorney General for the State of California, Doe One; Doe Two; Doe Three; Doe Four; and Doe Five.
However, for the purposes of these notes, we will use the shortened version utilized by the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles in most of the filings associated with the original case and with its amendment:
Constance Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton [original filing] (March 13, 1979), and Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton [First Amended Contest of Purported Will] (March 13, 1980).
The dialogue between Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara and Ralph Nutter during Zsa Zsa’s June 14, 1979, deposition was culled directly from its transcript.
The dialogue between Zsa Zsa and Myron Harpole is from Mr. Harpole’s first-person account. “It wasn’t easy for Mrs. O’Hara,” recalled Harpole. “It’s never easy for a celebrity to come in and tell personal details of their lives. I thought she was probably thinking, ‘This is a fine mess my daughter has gotten me into.’ However, I had the impression she would do anything to make certain her daughter finally got the recognition she felt she deserved. We admired how much she tried to keep her composure, even if she did lose it on occasion. She answered absolutely every question posed to her.”
A few more interesting details about Zsa Zsa’s deposition on June 14, 1979:
Zsa Zsa recalled that when she and Hilton were married, she once became sick with appendicitis. “Instead of taking me to a doctor, he went and got a priest to give novenas for me,” she said. It was her sister Eva, she testified, who “insisted to have a doctor look after me. This was a terrible shock to me, when he didn’t ask for a doctor and went for a priest, instead.”
When asked if Conrad’s religious convictions ever interfered with their sex life, Zsa Zsa became irate. “Is that all there is to life and marriage? Sex?” she demanded to know. “Always sex, sex, sex. You ask me nothing but sex!”
In this deposition, and in the other two she gave at around this time, Zsa Zsa spoke a great deal about Conrad Hilton’s affinity for nuns, and expressed her confusion as to why her ex-husband felt so strongly about the sisters of the Catholic Church. In July of 2007, Conrad’s grandson Steven Hilton—president and CEO of the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation—explained his grandfather’s motivation to Alice Garrad of Philanthropy News Digest:
He was a devout Catholic who went to church every Sunday. His faith was very much alive in his life, and his philosophy and charitable giving were very much faith-centered. As a young boy, he met some sisters who taught him the catechism, and as a result he developed a lifelong affinity and affection for them. He also respected the selflessness of their work. Many of his closest friends later in life were Catholic sisters, some of whom he sent a handwritten letter every week, even at the height of his career.
PART ONE. CONRAD
Curse of the Ambitious
Interviews conducted: Connie Espinoza de Amaté (October 1, 2011); Stewart Armstrong (November 13, 2011); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012); Stella Kelly (July 20, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story by Whitney Bolton; Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture by Annabel Jane Wharton; House of Hilton by Jerry Oppenheimer; The Man Who Bought the Waldorf by Thomas Ewing Dabney; Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier by Mildred Houghton Comfort.
Articles referenced: “Hilton: The Stuff of a Hotel Man,” Newsweek cover story on Conrad Hilton, September 27, 1954; “Hotels: By Golly!,” Time cover story on Conrad Hilton, July 19, 1963.
Legal documents referenced: “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (June 3, 1955).
NOTES
Details of the décor of Conrad Hilton’s home at this time—circa 1941—were culled from photographs of the home taken by Marcus deLeon.
The anecdote having to do with Katharine Hepburn and Howard Hughes is as per the memory of Stewart Armstrong.
The interaction between Conrad Hilton and Maria de Amaté is as per the memory of her daughter, Connie, and based on conversations mother and daughter had about Maria’s work for Hilton.
Special mention must be made of the work of Cathleen D. Baird, former director and archivist of the Conrad N. Hilton College of Hotel and Restaurant Management, Houston. Her exhaustive online in-house biography, Conrad N. Hilton: Innkeeper Extraordinary, Statesman and Philanthropist, 1897–1979, was crucial to my research. It was last updated on April 2, 2004. I also referenced Ms. Baird’s excellent “Hats Off to Hilton,” a videotape presentation celebrating Conrad Hilton’s hundredth birthday, for the 1987 Gourmet Night program of the Conrad N. Hilton College.
Humble Beginnings/Hotelier/Losing It All
Interviews conducted: Connie Espinoza de Amaté (October 1, 2011); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); Stewart Armstrong (November 13, 2011; November 14, 2011; November 15, 2012); Mark Young (July 20, 2012; August 1, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; The Man Who Bought the Waldorf by Thomas Ewing Dabney; The Silver Spade by Whitney Bolton; Jolie Gabor by Cindy Adams; Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture by Annabel Jane Wharton; Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier by Mildred Houghton Comfort; Portals at the Pass: El Paso Architecture to 1930 by Evan Haywood Antone; Historic El Paso: An Illustrated Biography by Ken Flynn; Pass of the North: Four Centuries on the Rio Grande, volumes 1 and 2, by C. L. Sonnichsen; El Paso: A Borderlands History by W. H. Timmons. I also referenced the pamphlet Downtown Historic Walking Tour: El Paso, as well as Texas Historical Commission, Texas Historic Sites Atlas, http://atlas.thc.state.tx.us.
Articles referenced: Dora Jane Hamblin, “In 19 Lands, Instant America: His Hotels Keep Conrad Hilton Hopping,” Life, August 30, 1963.
Legal documents referenced: “Deposition of Constance Francesca Hilton” (September 12, 1979); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979); “Deposition of Frances Kelly Hilton” (October 19, 1979); Constance Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton [original filing]” (March 13, 1979); “Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton [First Amended Contest of Purported Will]” (March 13, 1980).
Television programs referenced: What’s My Line?, Conrad Hilton, June 5, 1955; Person to Person, interview with Conrad Hilton, 1955; The Ed Sullivan Show, Conrad Hilton (recites prayer), April 6, 1958; The Hiltons, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Biography: Conrad Hilton, CNBC, 2010.
Georgia on His Mind
Interviews conducted: Zsa Zsa Gabor (February 2, 1986); Stewart Armstrong (November 13, 2011; November 14, 2011; November 15, 2012); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012; April 8, 2012; April 16, 2012; April 20, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Patricia Skipwort
h Hilton (February 27, 2012; February 28, 2012; April 5, 2012), Debbie Reynolds (August 2, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton, Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture by Annabel Jane Wharton; Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gerold Frank; One Lifetime Is Not Enough by Zsa Zsa Gabor.
Articles referenced: “Hilton: The Stuff of a Hotel Man,” Newsweek cover story on Conrad Hilton, September 27, 1954; “Hotels: by Golly!,” Time cover story on Conrad Hilton, July 19, 1963; Dora Jane Hamblin, “In 19 Lands, Instant America: His Hotels Keep Conrad Hilton Hopping,” Life, August 30, 1963.
Legal documents referenced: “Deposition of Sari Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (June 14, 1979; July 9, 1979; and July 10, 1979); Constance Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton [original filing] (March 13, 1979); Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton, [First Amended Contest of Purported Will] (March 13, 1980).
Television programs referenced: Person to Person, interview with Eva Gabor, 1953; Person to Person, interview with Conrad Hilton, 1955; The Merv Griffin Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, October 17, 1962; The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 16, 1963; The Joey Bishop Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 5, 1967; The David Frost Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 20, 1970; The Virginia Graham Show, interview with Eva Gabor, March 22, 1971; Phil Donahue, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 10, 1971; The David Frost Show, interview with Eva Gabor, 1971; The Pat Sajak Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 13, 1989; Vicki, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 10, 1992; Larry King Live, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 26, 1991; The People vs. Zsa Zsa Gabor, 1991; One on One with John Tesh, interview with Eva Gabor, 1992; Intimate Portrait: Eva Gabor, February 1, 1998; The Hiltons, Arts & Entertainment, 2005.
Loneliness at the Top/Buying the Town House
Interviews conducted: Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012); Patricia McClintock Hilton (April 2, 2012); Patricia Skipworth Hilton (April 5, 2012); George Schlatter (April 7, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 10, 2012); Ruta Lee (April 23, 2012); Dale Olsen (July 9, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story by Whitney Bolton; Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture by Annabel Jane Wharton.
Articles referenced: Dora Jane Hamblin, “In 19 Lands, Instant America: His Hotels Keep Conrad Hilton Hopping,” Life, August 30, 1963.
Legal documents referenced: “Deposition of Sari Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (June 14, 1979); “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979).
Television programs referenced: Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Biography: Conrad Hilton, CNBC, 2010.
Note: For the narrative descriptions of the hotels described on these pages, from “Buying the Town House” forward, I referenced the U.S. Department of the Interior’s National Register of Historic Places. I also referenced photographs of the hotels from the Conrad Hilton Collection, Hospitality Industry Archives.
Courting Zsa Zsa/Catholic Stumbling Block/Conrad Breaks the News to Zsa Zsa
Interviews conducted: Zsa Zsa Gabor (February 2, 1986); Stewart Armstrong (November 13, 2011; November 14, 2011; November 15, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012; March 12, 2012; June 15, 2012); Myron Harpole (August 15, 2012; August 17, 2012; August 20, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); Connie Espinoza de Amaté (October 1, 2011); Helen Lamm (July 25, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story by Whitney Bolton; Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gerold Frank; Jolie Gabor by Cindy Adams; House of Hilton by Jerry Oppenheimer; The Man Who Bought the Waldorf by Thomas Ewing Dabney; Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier by Mildred Houghton Comfort.
Legal documents referenced: “Codicil to Last Will and Testament of Conrad Hilton” (March 20, 1947); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (December 19, 1953); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (June 3, 1955); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (October 21, 1960); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (January 27, 1967); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (August 19, 1970); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (October 31, 1973); Constance Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton [original filing] (March 13, 1979); “Deposition of Sari Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (July 9, 1979); “Deposition of Constance Francesca Hilton” (September 12, 1979; September 13, 1979; September 14, 1979); “Declaration of Myron Harpole” (July 29, 1982); Francesca Hilton v. Frances Kelly Hilton [First Amended Contest of Purported Will] (March 13, 1980).
Television programs referenced: Person to Person, interview with Eva Gabor, 1953; What’s My Line?, Conrad Hilton, June 5, 1955; Person to Person, interview with Conrad Hilton, 1955; The Ed Sullivan Show, interview with Conrad Hilton, April 6, 1958; The Jack Paar Program, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, October 19, 1962; The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 16, 1963; The Joey Bishop Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 5, 1967; The Joey Bishop Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, February 24, 1969; The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, July 28, 1970; This Is Your Life, Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 29, 1989; The David Frost Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, June 12, 1972; The Geraldo Rivera Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 13, 1990; Showbiz Today, interview with Eva Gabor, August 19, 1991; The Howard Stern Summer Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 2, 1992; Late Show with David Letterman, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, December 22, 1993; That’s Entertainment! III Behind the Screen, interview with Eva Gabor, 1994; Intimate Portrait: Eva Gabor, February 1, 1998); Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Biography: Conrad Hilton, CNBC, 2010; Larry King Live, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 26, 1991.
PART TWO. MARY
Interviews conducted: Stanley Tucker (October 2, 2011; October 11, 2011); Jarrod Barron (November 20, 2011); Ken Heinemann (August 2, 2011); Patricia Skipworth Hilton (February 27, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; Building the Cold War: Hilton International Hotels and Modern Architecture by Annabel Jane Wharton; The Silver Spade: The Conrad Hilton Story by Whitney Bolton.
Legal documents referenced: “Divorce Decree—Conrad Hilton v. Mary Barron,” miscellaneous documents and correspondence (June 11, 1934); “Deposition of Sari Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (July 10, 1979); “Deposition of Frances Kelly Hilton” (October 19, 1979).
Television programs referenced: The Jack Paar Program, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 23, 1962; The Jack Paar Program, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 29, 1964; The Joey Bishop Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 8, 1968; The Virginia Graham Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, June 10, 1970; Phil Donahue, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, August 10, 1971; The Pat Sajak Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, September 13, 1989; Late Show with David Letterman, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 27, 1991; The Howard Stern Summer Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, May 2, 1992; The Rosie O’Donnell Show, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, February 25, 1998; Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Larry King Live: The Hiltons, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Biography: Conrad Hilton, CNBC, 2010.
PART THREE. ZSA ZSA
Conrad’s Inner Turmoil/For Love or Money
Interviews conducted: Cindy Adams (September 1, 1998); Terry Moore (February 10, 2012); Ed Lozzi (March 2, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 12, 2012); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012); Ruta Lee (April 23, 2012); Myron Harpole (August 15, 2012; August 17, 2012; August 20, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; Jolie Gabor by Cindy Adams; Zsa Zsa Gabor: My Story by Zsa Zsa Gabor and Gerold Frank; One Lifetime Is Not Enough by Zsa Zsa Gabor; Gaborabilia by Anthony Turtu and Donald F. Reute; Eva Gabor an Amazing Woman: “Unscrupulous” by C
amyl Sosa Belanger.
Articles referenced: “Hilton: The Stuff of a Hotel Man,” Newsweek cover story on Conrad Hilton, September 27, 1954; “Hotels: By Golly!,” Time cover story on Conrad Hilton, July 19, 1963; Dora Jane Hamblin, “In 19 Lands, Instant America: His Hotels Keep Conrad Hilton Hopping,” Life, August 30, 1963.
Legal documents referenced: “Reporter’s Transcript—Sari Gabor Hilton, sometimes known as Zsazsa Sari Hilton vs. Conrad Hilton,” by John F. Brill, official court reporter (September 17, 1946); “Last Will and Testament of Conrad Nicholson Hilton” (June 3, 1955); “Deposition of Sari Zsa Zsa Gabor O’Hara” (June 14, 1979; July 9, 1979; July 10, 1979); “Deposition of Constance Francesca Hilton” (September 12, 1979; September 13, 1979; September 14, 1979); “Declaration of Gregson Bautzer” (undated—from Zsazsa Sari Gabor v. Conrad Hilton); “Declaration of G. Bentley Ryan” (undated—from Zsazsa Sari Gabor v. Conrad Hilton).
The Roosevelt
Interviews conducted: Marybeth Evans-Wright (September 28, 2011); Jason Lederer (October 1, 2011); Timothy Long (October 4, 2011); Noreen Nash Siegel (April 2, 2012; April 3, 2012; April 10, 2012); Mark Young (July 20, 2012); David Gracie (March 1, 2012); Carole Wells Doheny (March 8, 2012); Mike Dipp (March 16, 2012).
Volumes referenced: Be My Guest by Conrad Hilton; House of Hilton by Jerry Oppenheimer; The Man Who Bought the Waldorf by Thomas Ewing Dabney; Conrad N. Hilton, Hotelier by Mildred Houghton Comfort.
Legal documents referenced: “Deposition of William Barron Hilton” (September 24, 1979; “Deposition of Frances Kelly Hilton” (October 19, 1979); “Declaration of Frances Kelly Hilton” (October 23, 1979).
Television programs referenced: Person to Person, interview with Conrad Hilton, 1955; Larry King Live, interview with Zsa Zsa Gabor, November 26, 1991; Conrad Hilton: Innkeeper to the World, Arts & Entertainment, 2005; Biography: Conrad Hilton, CNBC, 2010.
The Hiltons: The True Story of an American Dynasty Page 54