Ann-Margret

Ann-Margret Olsson (born 28 April 1941), credited as Ann-Margret, is an American actress, dancer, and singer with a career spanning seven decades. Her many screen roles include Pocketful of Miracles, State Fair (1962), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Viva Las Vegas (1964), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Train Robbers (1973), Tommy (1975), The Return of the Soldier (1982), 52 Pick-Up (1986), Newsies (1992), Grumpy Old Men (1993), Grumpier Old Men (1995), Any Given Sunday (1999), Taxi (2004), and Going in Style (2017). Her accolades include five Golden Globe Awards, two Laurel Awards, two Photoplay Awards, an Emmy Award, a Hollywood Walk of Fame Star, as well as two Academy Award nominations and two Grammy Award nominations. Born in Sweden, Ann-Margret immigrated to the United States as a child.

Early life Ann-Margret Olsson was born on 28 April 1941, in Stockholm, Sweden, to Anna Regina and Carl Gustav Olsson, a native of Örnsköldsvik. The family moved to Valsjöbyn, Krokom Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden in 1942. She described Valsjöbyn as a small town of "lumberjacks and farmers high up near the Arctic Circle". Her father had emigrated to the United States but returned to Sweden in 1937 and married Anna Aronsson. After Ann-Margret's birth, Gustav wanted to emigrate again with the family.

After World War II, his wife hesitated and Gustav emigrated alone, but was joined by his wife and daughter in 1946. In 1949, Ann-Margret became a naturalized American citizen.

Ann-Margret took her first dance lessons at the Marjorie Young School of Dance. She showed natural ability from the start, easily mimicking all the steps. Her parents were supportive, and her mother made all of her costumes by hand. To support the family, Ann-Margret's mother became a funeral parlor receptionist after her husband suffered a severe injury on his job. In a September 1959 advertisement for Sheaffer pens, she appears as "Ann Margret Olson, freshman, Northwestern University."

In January 1960, she was a member of "Joy Ride," a touring ensemble sponsored by the Chicago USO. Its twelve performers—current and recent Northwestern University students—spent four weeks entertaining U.S. military overseas in Iceland and Germany.

Later in 1960, she and three young men from Northwestern formed a singing group, the Suttletones. The group appeared at Chicago's Black Orchid and The Mist nightclubs, then in Nevada's Elko, Reno, and Las Vegas at the Dunes hotel and casino in Las Vegas. The Dunes also headlined Tony Bennett and Al Hirt at the time. George Burns heard of her performance, and she auditioned for his annual holiday show, for which she and Burns performed a softshoe routine. Variety proclaimed that "George Burns has a gold mine in Ann-Margret... she has a definite style of her own, which can easily guide her to star status".

Ann-Margret said she dropped her last name before moving out to California because when you are an entertainer, "mean things" can be written about you and she did not want her parents to be hurt by anything written about her.

Career Music career

Ann-Margret began recording for RCA Victor in 1961, first recording "Lost Love". Her debut album And Here She Is ... Ann-Margret was recorded in Hollywood, arranged and conducted by Marty Paich. Later albums were produced in Nashville with Chet Atkins on guitar, the Jordanaires (Elvis Presley's backup singers), and the Anita Kerr Singers, with liner notes by mentor George Burns. She had a sexy, throaty contralto singing voice.

RCA Victor attempted to capitalize on the "female Elvis" comparison by having her record a version of "Heartbreak Hotel" and other songs stylistically similar to Presley's. She scored a minor success with "I Just Don't Understand" (from her second LP), which entered the Billboard Top 40 in August 1961 and stayed six weeks, peaking at number 17;

Her only charting album was Beauty and the Beard (1964), on which she was accompanied by trumpeter Al Hirt. Other career highlights included appearing on The Jack Benny Program in 1961 and singing the Bachelor in Paradise theme at the 34th Academy Awards in 1962. Her contract with RCA Victor ended in 1966. In 1963, Life Magazine mentioned that her recordings had sold in excess of half a million units.

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, she had hits on the dance charts, the most successful being 1979's "Love Rush", which peaked at number eight on the disco/dance charts. 2011 saw the release of God is Love: The Gospel Sessions 2.

In 2023, she went back into the studio to record a full-length album of new recordings for Cleopatra Records. "Born to Be Wild" featured 13 covers including "Splish Splash", "Earth Angel", "Son of a Preacher Man", and a new take on "Teach Me Tonight" featuring Pat Boone. Other guest performers included Pete Townshend, The Fuzztones, Paul Shaffer, The Oak Ridge Boys, and more. The album was released on 14 April 2023, on vinyl, compact disc, and all streaming platforms. The album charted at number 93 on the Billboard Top Album Sales, the first time an Ann-Margret album had charted since Beauty and the Beard in 1964.

Rapid rise to Hollywood stardom (1961–1964)

In 1961, Ann-Margret filmed a screen test at 20th Century Fox and was signed to a seven-year contract. She made her film debut in a loan-out to United Artists alongside Bette Davis in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles, a remake of Capra's own Lady for a Day (1933). For her performance, Ann-Margret was awarded her first Golden Globe, for New Actress of the Year, alongside Jane Fonda and Christine Kaufmann.

In a 1962 remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical State Fair, she played the "bad girl" role of Emily opposite Bobby Darin and Pat Boone. She had previously tested for the part of Margie, the "good girl", but the studio bosses deemed her too seductive for that role. In her autobiography, Ann-Margret wrote that the two roles seemed to represent the two sides of her real-life personality. She was shy and reserved offstage but wildly exuberant and sensuous onstage, transforming "from Little Miss Lollipop to Sexpot-Banshee", in her words.

In a 2021 retrospective of Ann-Margret's career for FilmInk, Stephen Vagg argued "she wasn't that well cast as a bad girl. Because she had so much energy and shape, producers thought she was; but she was more effective in parts closer to what she was in real life: an energetic good girl with a twinkle in the eye".

Her performance as the all-American teenager Kim in Bye Bye Birdie (1963) made her a major star. Its premiere at Radio City Music Hall, 16 years after her first visit to the famed theater, was the highest first-week grossing film to date at the Music Hall. Life magazine put her on the cover for the second time and announced that the "torrid dancing almost replaces the central heating in the theater". Her performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination for Best Actress.

She was then asked to sing "Baby Won't You Please Come Home" at President John F. Kennedy's private birthday party at the Waldorf Astoria New York, one year after Marilyn Monroe's famous "Happy Birthday to You". A few months later, Ann-Margret voiced an animated version of herself, named "Ann-Margrock", on the television series The Flintstones. She sang the ballad "The Littlest Lamb" as a lullaby, as well as the rocker, "Ain't Gonna Be a Fool".

Ann-Margret met Elvis Presley on the MGM soundstage when the two filmed Viva Las Vegas (1964). Filmink argued "She had so much energy and pep that she had blown her previous three male co-stars off screen, but Elvis could match her. He was the best on-screen partner she ever had, and she was his". Choreographer David Winters was hired because Ann-Margret was his dance student and recommended him for the job. It was Winters' first choreographer credit on film. He would go on to become a common collaborator for both Presley and Ann-Margret.

Decline in fortunes and European sojourn (1965–1969) Bye Bye Birdie and Viva Las Vegas had established Ann-Margret as Hollywood's biggest new star, but a string of box-office flops followed until October 1965. The first, Kitten with a Whip, saw Ann-Margret give a "balls-to-the-wall performance" as a juvenile delinquent who entraps a politician. Ann-Margret broke her flop streak with The Cincinnati Kid, in which she played a femme fatale opposite Steve McQueen. It was her first hit since Viva Las Vegas, but her role was not a large one.

Ann-Margret performing for U.S. service personnel in Vietnam in 1966

In 1966, Ann-Margret starred in four films. Made in Paris, the first of these, was a fashion-focused romantic comedy in which Ann-Margret received top billing. FilmInk attributes its box office failure to "dodgy writing and uninspiring male leads".

After the first Vegas run ended, she followed with a CBS television special The Ann-Margret Show, produced and directed by David Winters on 1 December 1968, with guest-stars Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, and Carol Burnett. Then, she returned to Saigon as part of Hope's Christmas show. A second CBS television special followed, Ann-Margret: From Hollywood With Love, produced, directed and choreographed by David Winters, with guest-stars Dean Martin and Lucille Ball. David Winters and the show were nominated for a Primetime Emmy in Outstanding Choreography.

Critical acclaim in supporting roles (1970s)

In 1970, she returned to films with R. P. M., where she starred alongside Anthony Quinn, and C.C. and Company with Joe Namath as a biker and her portraying a fashion journalist.

In 1971, she starred in Carnal Knowledge by director Mike Nichols, playing the girlfriend of a neglectful, arguably abusive character played by Jack Nicholson. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Filmink argued this amounted to a comeback "in a way...because she never really regained her former status as an above-the-title star of feature films—her follow-up movies were 'girl' parts... the seventies were tough times for female stars who were not Barbra Streisand."

On Sunday, 10 September 1972, while performing at Lake Tahoe, she fell from an elevated platform to the stage and suffered injuries including a broken left arm, cheekbone, and jawbone. She required meticulous facial reconstructive surgery that required wiring her mouth shut and putting her on a liquid diet. Unable to work for ten weeks, she returned to the stage almost back to normal.

Throughout the 1970s, Ann-Margret balanced her live musical performances with a string of dramatic film roles that played against her glamorous image. In 1973, she starred with John Wayne in The Train Robbers. Then came the musical Tommy in 1975, for which she received her second Oscar nomination, this time for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In addition, she has been nominated for ten Golden Globe Awards, winning five, including her Best Actress – Motion Picture Comedy or Musical for Tommy. On 17 August 1977, Ann-Margret and Roger Smith traveled to Memphis to attend Elvis Presley's funeral. Three months later, she hosted Memories of Elvis featuring abridged versions of the Elvis 1968 TV and Aloha from Hawaii specials.

Other films she co-starred in during the late 1970s include Joseph Andrews (1977), The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977), and the horror/suspense thriller Magic (1978) with Anthony Hopkins. She had a cameo in The Cheap Detective (1978).

Ann-Margret was an early choice of Allan Carr's to play the role of Sandy Dumbrowski in the 1978 film Grease. At 36 years of age when filming commenced, she was ultimately determined to be too old to convincingly play the role of a high school student. Twenty-eight-year-old Olivia Newton-John got the role instead, and the character was renamed "Sandy Olsson" (after Ann-Margret's birth surname) in her honor.

For her contributions to the film industry, Ann-Margret received a motion picture star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1973. Her star is located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard.

Television-movie era (1980s)

Ann-Margret starred opposite Bruce Dern in Middle Age Crazy (1980). In 1982, she co-starred with Walter Matthau and Dinah Manoff in the film version of Neil Simon's play I Ought to Be in Pictures. That same year also saw the release of Lookin' to Get Out, filmed two years prior in 1980, in which she co-starred with Jon Voight and played the mother of a five-year-old Angelina Jolie in Jolie's screen debut. To round out 1982, she appeared alongside Alan Bates, Glenda Jackson, and Julie Christie in the film adaptation of The Return of the Soldier. She also starred in the TV movies Who Will Love My Children? (1983) and a remake of A Streetcar Named Desire (1984), winning Golden Globe Awards for both performances.

After Barbara Stanwyck won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie in 1983 for her role in The Thorn Birds, she mentioned Ann-Margret's performance in Who Will Love My Children?, stating at the podium "I would like to pay a personal tribute at this time to a lady who is a wonderful entertainer...I think she gave one of the finest, most beautiful performances I have ever seen...Ann-Margret, you were superb."

In Twice in a Lifetime (1985) Ann-Margret portrayed a waitress for whom Gene Hackman's character left his wife. The next year she appeared as the wife of Roy Scheider's character in the crime thriller 52 Pick-Up. In 1987 she co-starred with Elizabeth Ashley, and Claudette Colbert, in the last on-screen role of the film legend's career, in the NBC two-part series The Two Mrs. Grenvilles. It earned Ann-Margret another Emmy Award nomination, this time for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini Series or a Special.

In 1989, an illustration of Oprah Winfrey appeared on the cover of TV Guide, and although the head was Oprah's, the body was from a 1979 publicity shot of Ann-Margret. The illustration was rendered so tightly in color pencil by freelance artist Chris Notarile that most people thought it was a composite photograph.

Ann-Margret also starred in several television films, including Queen: The Story of an American Family (1993), Following Her Heart (1994), and Life of the Party (1999), the latter of which she received nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.

In 2000, she recorded the theme song, a modified version of the Viva Las Vegas theme, to the live-action film The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas.

She made guest appearances on the television show Touched by an Angel in 2000 and three episodes of Third Watch in 2003. In 2001, she made her first appearance in a stage musical, playing the character of brothel owner Mona Stangley in a new touring production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. The production co-starred Gary Sandy and Ed Dixon. She played Jimmy Fallon's mother in the 2004 comedy Taxi, co-starring Queen Latifah.

In 2001, Ann-Margret worked with Art Greenhaw on the album God Is Love: The Gospel Sessions. The project resulted in her second Grammy Award nomination and first Dove Award nomination for Best Album of the Year in a Gospel category. They teamed up again in 2004 for the album Ann-Margret's Christmas Carol Collection. She performed material from the album at two auditorium church services at Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, and broadcast worldwide on the program Hour of Power.

In November 2005, Ann-Margret reunited with Chuck Day and Mickey Jones for an encore of their 1966 USO tour for veterans and troops at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

In the fall of 2011, she co-starred with Andy Williams for a series of concerts at his Moon River Theater in Branson, Missouri. These proved to be Williams' last performances before his death in 2012.

In 2014, she began appearing in a recurring role in the Showtime original series Ray Donovan. On 1 October 2018, it was announced that she had joined the second season of the Syfy series Happy! in a recurring role.

In 2018, she guest-starred in The Kominsky Method, portraying Diane, a widow and possible love interest for the recently widowed Norman, played by Alan Arkin.

On 14 April 2023, "Born to Be Wild," which was her first album in over a decade, was released. The album charted at number 93 on the Billboard Top Album Sales, the first time an Ann-Margret album had charted since Beauty and the Beard in 1964.

On 28 November 2023, she was a guest narrator of Disney's Candlelight Processional at Walt Disney World.

Personal life Ann-Margret is a stepmother of the three children of her husband Roger Smith, an actor, who later became her manager. She and Smith were married for 50years from 8May 1967 until his death on 4June 2017. Before her marriage to Smith, she dated Eddie Fisher, was briefly engaged to Burt Sugarman, and was romantically linked to Elvis Presley when they co-starred in the film Viva Las Vegas in 1964.

Ann-Margret has given talks about her Swedish-American heritage, including her explorations of Swedish cuisine.

A keen motorcyclist, Ann-Margret rode a 500 cc Triumph T100C Tiger in The Swinger (1966) and used the same model, fitted with a nonstandard electric starter, in her stage show and her TV specials. She was featured in Triumph Motorcycles' official advertisements in the 1960s. She suffered three broken ribs and a fractured shoulder when she was thrown off a motorcycle in rural Minnesota in 2000.

In a 2012 interview, she stated, "All my life I've had this feeling, deep, deep, deep inside of me...my faith and my feelings....I mean you go outside and you see flowers. You see the trees. You see all your loved ones, you see...and then you think of Who created it all." She described her relationship with God, and with Jesus Christ as "something which is really important to me. If I thought that I would never see my mother and father again, I couldn't make it. I could not go a step further."

On 14 May 2022, she was awarded an honorary doctoral degree in Humane Letters by the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Portrayal The 2005 CBS miniseries Elvis includes the story of her affair with Elvis Presley during the filming of Viva Las Vegas. She was portrayed by the actress Rose McGowan. She also provided the voice of a fictionalized version of herself in a 1963 Flintstones episode "Ann-Margrock Presents".

Television

Year Title Role Notes 1961 The Jack Benny Program Herself Episode: "Variety Show" 1962 The Andy Williams Special Herself Episode: "May 4, 1962" 1963 The Flintstones Ann-Margrock (voice) Episode: "Ann-Margrock Presents" 1983 Who Will Love My Children? Lucile Fray TV movieGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film;Nominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie 1984 A Streetcar Named Desire Blanche DuBois TV movieGolden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Motion Picture Made for Television 1987 The Two Mrs. Grenvilles Ann Arden Grenville MiniseriesNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie 1991 Our Sons Luanne Barnes TV movie 1993 Alex Haley's Queen Sally Jackson 2 episodesNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television FilmNominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie 1994 Scarlett Belle Watling Miniseries Following Her Heart Ingalill "Lena" Lundquist TV movieNobody's Children Carol Stevens 1996 Blue Rodeo Maggie Yearwood Seduced by Madness Diane Kay Borchardt Miniseries 1998 Life of the Party Pamela Harriman TV movieNominated – Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television FilmNominated – Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a MovieNominated – Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television MovieFour Corners Amanda "Maggie" Wyatt 2 episodes 1999 Happy Face Murders Lorraine Petrovich TV movie 2000 Perfect Murder, Perfect Town Nedra Paugh Miniseries The 10th Kingdom Cinderella Touched by an Angel Angela Episode: "Millennium"Popular God Episode: "Are You There, God? It's Me Ann-Margret" 2001 Blonde Della Monroe Miniseries 2003 Third Watch Judge Barbara Halsted 3 episodes 2004 A Place Called Home Tula Jeeters TV movie 2010 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Rita Wills Episode: "Bedtime"Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama SeriesArmy Wives Aunt Edie Episode: "Guns & Roses"CSI: Crime Scene Investigation Margot Wilton Episode: "Sqweegel" 2014 Ray Donovan June 2 episodes 2018 The Kominsky Method Diane 2 episodes Nominated – Online Film & Television Association Award – Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series 2019 Happy! Bebe DeBarge 2 episodes 2022 A Holiday Spectacular Grandma Margret TV Movie

Discography Albums And Here She Is ... Ann-Margret (1961) On the Way Up (1962) The Vivacious One (1962) Bachelors' Paradise (1963) 3 Great Girls – with Della Reese and Kitty Kallen (1963) – four songs Beauty and the Beard (1964) (with Al Hirt) David Merrick Presents Hits from His Broadway Hits (1964) (with David Merrick) – four songs Songs from The Swinger (and Other Swingin' Songs) (1966) The Cowboy and the Lady (1969) (with Lee Hazlewood) Ann-Margret (1980) God Is Love: The Gospel Sessions (2001) Ann-Margret's Christmas Carol Collection (2004) God Is Love: The Gospel Sessions 2 (2011) Born to Be Wild (2023)

Singles

("Hey Little Star" did not enter the Billboard Hot 100, but did peak at #130 on the Record World Singles Chart.)

Awards and nominations Year Association Category Nominated work Result 1961 Billboard Year-End Most Promising Female Vocalist 1962 Grammy Award Best New Artist Golden Laurel Top Female New Personality Golden Globe Award Most Promising Newcomer – Female 1963 Golden Laurel Top Female Musical Performance State Fair Top Female Star 1964 Top Female Comedy Performance Bye Bye Birdie Top Female Star Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture Actress – Musical/Comedy Bye Bye Birdie Photoplay Award Most Popular Female Star 1965 Golden Laurel Musical Performance, Female Viva Las Vegas 1966 Made in Paris 1967 Top Female Star 1972 Academy Award Best Supporting Actress Carnal Knowledge Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role 1973 Hollywood Walk of Fame Motion Pictures Star Contributions to the film industry Inducted 1976 Academy Award Best Actress Tommy Golden Globe Award Best Motion Picture Actress – Musical/Comedy 1978 Best Motion Picture Actress in a Supporting Role Joseph Andrews 1979 Saturn Award Best Actress Magic 1981 Genie Award Best Performance by a Foreign Actress Middle Age Crazy 1983 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special Who Will Love My Children? Golden Apple Award Female Star of the Year 1984 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or a Special Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV Who Will Love My Children? 1985 1987 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini Series or a Special Women in Film Crystal Award For outstanding women who, through their endurance and the excellence of their work, have helped to expand the role of women within the entertainment industry. Recipient 1988 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV 1993 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini Series or a Special Queen: The Story of an American Family 1994 Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV 1999 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Lead Actress in a Miniseries or a Movie Life of the Party: The Pamela Harriman Story Golden Globe Award Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for TV 1999 Screen Actors Guild Award Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a TV Movie or Miniseries 2001 Grammy Award Best Southern, Country, or Bluegrass Gospel Album God is Love: The Gospel Sessions 2002 GMA Dove Award Best Country Album 2003 USO Spirit of Hope Award 2005 CineVegas International Film Festival Centennial Award 2010 Primetime Emmy Award Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama Series Law & Order: SVU: Bedtime 2013 Ft. Lauderdale International Film Festival Lifetime Achievement Award Recipient 2019 Online Film & Television Association Award Best Guest Actress in a Comedy Series The Kominsky Method USO Bob Hope Legacy Award Los Angeles Press Club Legend Award 2021 Family Film Awards Lifetime Achievement Award 2024 Women's Image Network Awards Living Legend Award 2025 Cinecon Legacy Award 2026 USO USO Challenge Coin Chita Rivera Awards Lifetime Achievement Award Plaza Classic Film Festival Plaza Classic Award for Lifetime Achievement