Ann-Margret (born April 28, 1941) is a Swedish-born actress and singer. Born Ann-Margret Olsson in Valsjöbyn , Jämtland, Sweden, she moved to the United States when young, and grew up in Winnetka, Illinois. She attended Northwestern University, and was discovered singing in a nightclub by George Burns. She's known as a sex symbol and was named the sex-kitten. Ann-Margret was also compared to Elvis Presley for her energetic performances and aptly named the female Elvis.

Ann-Margret started recording for RCA in 1961. Her recording career was not as successful as her movie career. She had a sexy singing voice which can be compared to that of Eartha Kitt or Nancy Sinatra. She scored one minor hit I Just Don't Understand (it entered the Billboard Top-40 the week of August 21, 1961 and stayed 6 weeks, peaking at #17.) Her only charting album is The Beauty and the Beard (1964) which she did with trumpeter Al Hirt. The contract with RCA ended in 1966.

She got her start in Pocketful of Miracles in 1961, and followed that up with the successful film State Fair the following year. It was her starring role as the all-American teenager in Bye Bye Birdie which made her a star. When she filmed Viva Las Vegas with Elvis Presley the following year, she made a life-long friend. Presley continued to send her flowers at the opening of each of her stage show appearances until he died. When The Flintstones created a character named "Ann-Margrock", she had arrived as an American cultural phenomenon. She did the dubbing of "Ann-Margrock" herself.

Ann-Margret & Elvis in Viva Las Vegas

In 1971, she starred in Mike Nichols's Carnal Knowledge, marking a change from her sex-kitten musical roles. She garnered a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. The following year, while performing at Lake Tahoe, Nevada, she fell 22 feet from the stage and suffered injuries which put her out of commission for several months.

In 1975 she starred as the title character's mother in Tommy, and received a nomination for the Academy Award for Best Actress. In 1976 she received a Golden Globe for Best Actress, Film Comedy/Musical in Tommy.

Other films include The Swinger , Joseph Andrews, A Tiger's Tale , Newsies, 52 Pick-Up , and Grumpy Old Men .

She also did a string of successful TV specials, starting with The Ann-Margret Show for NBC in 1968.

She has been married to actor Roger Smith since 1967. Smith suffers from myasthenia gravis, and Ann-Margret has devoted much of her life to tending him.

Ann-Margret has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6501 Hollywood Blvd.

Chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history (#10). [1995]

Filmography

• Pocketful of Miracles (1961)
• State Fair (1962)
• Bye Bye Birdie (1963)
• Viva Las Vegas (1964)
• Kitten with a Whip (1964)
• The Pleasure Seekers (1964)
• (1965) (short subject)
• Bus Riley's Back in Town (1965)
• Once a Thief (1965)
• The Cincinnati Kid (1965)
• Made in Paris (1966)
• Stagecoach (1966)
• The Swinger (1966)
• Murderers' Row (1966)
• The Tiger and the Pussycat (1967)
• The Prophet (1968)
• Seven Men and One Brain (1968)
• Rebus (1969)
• R.P.M. (1970)
• C.C. and Company (1970)
• Carnal Knowledge (1971)
• The Outside Man (1972)
• The Train Robbers (1973)
• Tommy (1975)
• The Twist (1976)
• Joseph Andrews (1977)
• The Last Remake of Beau Geste (1977)
• The Cheap Detective (1978)
• Magic (1978)
• The Villain (1979)
• Middle Age Crazy (1980)
• The Return of the Soldier (1982)
• Lookin' to Get Out (1982)
• I Ought to Be in Pictures (1982)
• Twice in a Lifetime (1985)
• 52 Pick-Up (1986)
• A Tiger's Tale (1988)
• A New Life (1988)
• Newsies (1992)
• Grumpy Old Men (1993)
• Grumpier Old Men (1995)
• The Limey (1999) (scenes deleted)
• Any Given Sunday (1999)
• The Last Producer (2000)
• Interstate 60 (2002)
• Taxi (2004)
• Mem-o-re (2005) (currently filming)

External links

• Official web site
• Unofficial site from Sweden
• The Marvelous Miss Ann-Margret Superb fan-site
• Today, Tomorrow & Forever fansite created in memory of the friendship/relationship of Elvis Presley and Ann-Margret