Gabor in critical condition after operation

Actress Zsa Zsa Gabor was in a critical condition in hospital today after a hip replacement operation.

The 93-year-old actress, who had her right hip replaced after a fall at her Bel-Air home, was in a critical condition.

Gabor’s husband, Prince Frederic von Anhalt, said his wife had injuries to the right side of her body, including a broken hip, after she fell out of her bed last weekend trying to get into a wheelchair at her Bel-Air home.

Gabor, 93, initially appeared to be recovering after the hip surgery Monday at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles, Gabor’s publicist John Blanchette said.

Gabor's daughter Constance Francesca Hilton said her mother was talking during a visit yesterday.

Her mother was “adjusting to the medications and healing process. There are no surprises”, Ms Hilton said.

He said last night that the actress may have suffered a stroke during surgery, but Mr von Anhalt said doctors had not confirmed that.

“It’s just speculation,” he said. “We have to wait a few more days to see what is going on.”

Mr von Anhalt said his wife was conscious. “She looks at us but doesn’t know what is going on,” he said.

Gabor, the Hungarian-born sexpot of the 1950s and 1960s, was watching her favourite television game show in bed last Saturday when she tumbled out while trying to answer the telephone.

She has to use a wheelchair after being partially paralysed in a 2002 car accident and was trying to reach her wheelchair to get out of bed but its brake was not on and it moved away, spilling her out of the bed, Mr Blanchette said.

Gabor appeared in films ranging from 'Moulin Rouge' in 1952 to 'Queen Of Outer Space' in 1958.

She also appeared on TV specials and game shows and as a guest on several TV series, often playing herself.