|
In 1961, at nineteen,
she filmed a screen test at 20th Century Fox and was
signed to a seven-year contract. Ann-Margret made her
film début in a loan out to United Artists in Pocketful
of Miracles, with Bette Davis. It was a remake of the
1933 movie Lady for a Day. Both versions were directed
by Frank Capra.
Then came a successful 1962 remake of Rodgers and
Hammerstein's musical State Fair playing the "bad girl"
role of Emily opposite
Pat Boone. She had tested for the part of Margy, the
"good girl," but she seemed too seductive to the studio
bosses who decided on the switch. The two roles mimicked
her real-life personality--shy and reserved off stage
but wildly exuberant and sensuous on stage. As she
summed up in her autobiography, she would easily
transform herself from "Little Miss Lollipop to
Sexpot-Banshee" once she stepped on stage and the music
began.
Her next starring role, as the all-American teenager Kim
from Sweet Apple, Ohio, in Bye Bye Birdie made her a
major star. The premiere at Radio City Music Hall, 16
years after her first visit to the famed theater, was a
smash hit--the highest first-week grossing film to date
at that theater. 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".[8]
She was asked to sing "Baby, Won't You Please Come Home"
at President John F. Kennedy's private birthday party at
the Waldorf-Astoria, one year after Marilyn Monroe's
famous "Happy Birthday".
Ann-Margret met
Elvis Presley on the MGM soundstage when the two
filmed Viva Las Vegas. They began a one-year affair that
received considerable attention from the gossip
columnists. The reports led to a showdown with Priscilla
Presley, described by Priscilla in her 1985 book, Elvis
and Me, including a discussion of Ann-Margret's attempt
to "cut her off at the pass" with a press announcement
that she and Elvis were engaged to be married. Ann-Margret
states that although they discussed marriage, she and
Presley were never engaged and they both knew that the
affair would run its course. Comparisons of Ann-Margret
as the "female Elvis" were not confined to the publicity
agencies. The two of them were truly similar in many
ways--both were quiet and shy offstage and electric
onstage, treasured their families and believed strongly
in God, loved speed and motorcycles, could be defiant of
danger, and could be self-destructive at times. After
the affair ended, Presley remained a very close friend
and continued to send Ann-Margret flowers at the opening
of each of her stage appearances.
In 1963, Ann-Margret guest-starred in a popular episode
of The Flintstones, voicing Ann-Margrock, an animated
version of herself. She sang the (literally) rock-ing
song, "Ain't Gonna Be A Fool." Decades later, 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 in character as Ann-Margrock.
While working on Once a Thief she re-encountered Roger
Smith, who after his successful run on the private-eye
television series 77 Sunset Strip was performing a live
club show at the Hungry i on a bill with Bill Cosby and
Don Adams. That meeting began their courtship, which met
with resistance from her parents.
Ann-Margret starred in The Cincinnati
Kid in 1965 opposite Steve McQueen. She also co-starred
along with friend Dean Martin in the spy spoof
Murderers' Row (1966).
Her redhead hair color (she is a "natural brunette") was
the idea of Sydney Guilaroff, a hairdresser who changed
the hair color of other famous actresses such as Lucille
Ball.
She was offered the title role in Cat Ballou which would
go to Jane Fonda, but her manager turned it down without
telling her. In March 1966, Ann-Margret and entertainers
Chuck Day and Mickey Jones teamed up for a USO tour to
entertain U.S. servicemen in remote parts of Vietnam and
other parts of Southeast Asia. She still has great
affection for the veterans and refers to them as "my
gentlemen." Ann-Margret, Day and Jones reunited in
November 2005 for an encore of this tour for veterans
and troops at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.
During a lull in her film career in the late 1960s, she
performed live in Las Vegas, with her husband Smith
(whom she had married in 1967) taking over as her
manager after that engagement. Elvis and his entourage
came to see her during the show's five-week run and to
celebrate backstage. She followed up with a television
special on December 1, 1968 starring Bob Hope, Jack
Benny, Danny Thomas and Carol Burnett. Then she went
back to Saigon as part of Hope's Christmas show. A
second television special followed with Dean Martin and
Lucille Ball. She returned to films with R.P.M. and C.C.
and Company (featuring her first nude scenes).
1970s and 1980s
In 1971, she starred in Mike Nichols's Carnal Knowledge,
marking a significant change from her sex-kitten musical
roles and garnering a nomination for an 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 including a broken left arm, cheekbone and
jawbone. Unable to work for ten weeks, she ultimately
returned to the stage almost back to normal. Smith flew
a stolen plane from Burbank to Lake Tahoe and back to
get his wife to surgeons at UCLA to repair her injuries.
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 was
nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. In
addition, she has been nominated for ten Golden Globe
Awards and has won five times, including her Best
Actress for Tommy. She also did a string of successful
TV specials, starting with The Ann-Margret Show for NBC
in 1968.
In 1978, she co-starred with Anthony Hopkins in the
horror/suspense thriller Magic, which involved a steamy
love scene between her and Hopkins. This was only the
second time she ever consented to appear nude. She
required the scene to be shot on a closed set with the
minimum number of persons present during filming.
Additionally, no stills were shot of the scene.
Subsequently, High Society magazine published a picture
taken from the nude scene, which led to a lawsuit. The
court held that Ann-Margret had no right of publicity in
the film's release. There was no evidence regarding the
extent of her release in relation with Magic; and the
court considered her nudity to be "newsworthy"; that
Ann-Margret's nonownership in the copyright was an
important element, and that High Society was only a
"tacky" publication.
In 1989, an illustration was done of Oprah Winfrey that
graced the cover of TV Guide, and although the head was
Oprah's, the body was referenced 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.
1990s and 2000s
In 1993, she starred in the comedy Grumpy Old Men with
Walter Matthau and
Jack Lemmon. Her character returned for Grumpier Old
Men, the sequel.
Ann-Margret published an autobiography in 1994 titled
Ann-Margret: My Story (ISBN 0-399-13891-9). In 1995, she
was chosen by Empire magazine as one of the 100 Sexiest
Stars in film history; she ranked 10th.
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.
She also filmed Any Given Sunday for director Oliver
Stone, portraying the mother of football team owner
Cameron Diaz. In Mem-o-re, she starred with
Billy Zane and Dennis Hopper. More recently, Ann-Margret
had a small role in The Break Up starring Jennifer
Aniston and Vince Vaughn. In the 2005 CBS movie Elvis
(TV mini series) she is portrayed by Rose Mcgowan. |
