UPFRONT/WHAT I KNOW NOW
Ann-Margret
The actor-singer on being an immigrant, keeping wire cutters handy—and leaving Elvis out of it
From huddled masses
I started moving around to music and singing for Mother and Mooma, my grandma, when I was 4. Two years later, we moved from our little village in Sweden to America. I know how hard it must be for people who come here who don’t know the language.
A showgirl makes her mark
George Burns discovered me when I was 19, singing in Las Vegas, and made me part of his annual holiday show. Later I made State Fair and posed for some photos with Pat Boone, kissing his shoulder. But the press said I was nibbling him—very racy in 1962!
Sexy is as sexy does
I didn’t mind being called a sex symbol. If a guy comes up to you and says, “Hey, you’re really looking good,” I just think, Well, how nice!
Keeping her love affair with Elvis under wraps
I don’t like to talk about it. I can say that when I made Viva Las Vegas with him in ’63, we recorded three duets and it was electrifying—he moved the same way I did; we felt the same way about music. But I didn’t want to re-record those for the new album. I would not want to do any of them again without him.
Shake ’em up!
In the beginning, they said, “Oh, all she does is just shake her seat.” Carnal Knowledge [1971] turned that around.
Singing to Jack
In 1963, I sang “Baby Won’t You Please Come Home” to President Kennedy at his birthday party! He was wonderful, very gentlemanly.
Keep calm, and get back up
I fell off a stage—22 feet—in Tahoe in 1972. I smashed my face and broke my jaw and arm. But I was back onstage in less than three months. Daddy was then very ill with cancer. And the only way that I could show him that I was fine was to get on that stage.
Bring your wire cutters
When my jaw was wired up after the accident, I’d go out with a friend, and Roger [Smith, a former actor who became her husband and manager] would give them wire cutters in case I had an emergency. I think we only had to use them once.
Laugh along
Kristen Wiig was so great spoofing me on SNL! When she got on her back and kicked her legs? I have done that several times in my life!
The enduring power of love
I loved Roger with all my heart. And we had 50 great years together. I always tried to listen and to be the best partner I could be. And by 50 years, my goodness, you know what makes someone happy, what makes them angry, what makes them sad. He was very funny, and being able to laugh together—that’s one of the secrets of a good marriage. Then he was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis. The last five years were rough. Roger died in 2017. My stepson Jordan passed away not long after. My faith was the only thing that kept me going. —As told to Alanna Nash
Five-time Golden Globe winner Ann-Margret, 82, recently released Born to Be Wild, a new album of covers featuring her old friend Pat Boone and her Tommy (1975) costar Pete Townshend.