Hollywood Legend Ann-Margret Is Set To Turn 79 Years Old And Still Beautiful As Ever

Apr 01, 2020 by apost team

Ann-Margret rose to fame in the 1960s. She starred in blockbuster movies Bye Bye Birdie (1963) and Viva Las Vegas (1964) alongside Elvis Presley before previously recording her debut album And Here She Is: Ann-Margret in 1961. The Swedish-American actress and singer can look back on a long and successful career spanning 60 years. Turning 79 this year, Ann-Margret is still as dazzling as ever.

Born with the full name Ann-Margret Olsson in Stockholm, Sweden, the Swedish-American actress is still as beautiful as ever and seems to be aging like fine wine. She launched her singing career in 1961 with her debut album and was soon hailed as "the female Elvis". Her big jump to fame came after she starred in Bye Bye Birdie and Viva Las Vegas alongside the King himself.

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Ann-Margret had humble origins. As the star told PEOPLE magazine in an interview in 1978, after her family moved from Sweden to the US, her parents struggled to make ends meet. Her father, an electrician by trade, was injured in a fall and unable to work. Her mother took up work as a receptionist in a funeral home in exchange for lodgings for the whole family. Ann-Margret sometimes slept beside the caskets after having to wait until all the mourners had left. Thankfully, those hard days were over when she finally had her big breakthrough.

She joined the showbusiness early, when she was still a teen. At first, she only had small time gigs in local shows, but when her troupe travelled to Los Angeles, George Burns saw her and realized she had talent. As she told the Sun-Sentinel in an interview: 

"He was preparing a variety show for the Sahara, I think. He had seen me, and I was very nervous. I wore this tight sweater and black stockings that I wore quite a bit. The band and I had just come out to L.A., and I didn't have any clothes to speak of."

After her career quickly gained traction, Ann-Margret developed more than just her singing talent. The versatile star has done everything from serious drama to comedies to concerts and musicals. With more than 55 movies under her belt, she is still going strong today with active TV roles and a new movie in the making. Over the course of her career, she has won five Golden Globes, two Oscar nominations, two Grammys, and six Emmys.

By her side throughout most of this was her late husband of 50 years Roger Smith. As she told PEOPLE, Ann-Margret always knew that she would be safe and loved with Smith. Together, the couple had weathered all kinds of highs and lows over the years and still kept the romance in their relationship until the last day. Smith sadly passed away in 2017, mere days after the couple's 50 year anniversary. 

Have you ever seen Ann-Margret live for any of her performances? Tell us what you thought of them or of any experiences you had! If you know any Ann-Margret fans, be sure to pass this story along!