Actress, singer and dancer Ann-Margret has been stealing hearts on stage and in film since the 1960s. She is best known for her performances in the films “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Viva Las Vegas,” “The Cincinnati Kid,” “Carnal Knowledge,” and “The Train Robbers,” among others. Ann-Margret has taken home five Golden Globe Awards and has been nominated for two Academy Awards, two Grammy Awards and six Emmy Awards. She won the Emmy for Best Guest Appearance at the 2010 Primetime Emmy Awards for her performance in “Law and Order: Special Victims Unit.”
Ann-Margret was born in Stockholm, Sweden, on Apr. 28, 1941. Her family moved to the United States in 1941 and settled outside of Chicago, Illinois. In 1949, Ann-Margret became a naturalized citizen of the US. The star later attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois, where she participated in theater. In 1959, Ann-Margret began attending Northwestern University but did not graduate.
Beginning her entertainment career in 1961, it was the film “Bye Bye Birdie” that launched Ann-Margret to stardom in 1963. Then in 1964, she starred alongside Elvis in “Viva Las Vegas,” and they had a short romance before becoming lifelong friends.
While working on the film “Once a Thief” in 1965, Ann-Margret met her future husband, Roger Smith, who is best known for starring in the series “77 Sunset Strip.” They began dating, and they were married in 1967. Ann-Margret became the stepmother to Roger’s three children, Tracy, Jordan and Dallas Smith. Roger passed away in 2017, but Ann-Margret remains a loving stepmother and is now a grandmother as well. Read on to learn more about Ann-Margret and Roger’s loving relationship that lasted 50 years!
Ann-Margret, Roger Smith (1965), (Fotos International/Archive Photos via Getty Images)
Ann-Margret knew that she had a gift that she wanted to share with the world, and that is exactly what she did after starring in her high school theater before beginning her career with “Bye Bye Birdie.”
After her box office hit with “Bye Bye Birdie,” she moved on to “Viva Las Vegas,” where she was joined by another icon who she called “E.P.” In a sitdown interview with CBS Sunday Morning, Ann-Margret opened up about her first time meeting Elvis Presley.
“It was kind of awkward,” she said. “‘Hi’ but it was great,” she added.
Although their romance didn’t last, Ann-Margret and Presley remained friends until his passing in 1977. Despite this, when Ann-Margret released her “Born To Be Wild” greatest hits of the ‘50s and ‘60s album in 2023, songs with Presley were notably excluded.
“I decided not to (include them),” she told Closer Weekly. “Everyone knows how I felt about him and the friendship that we had all these years. It was very, very private.”
One reason Ann-Margret has been so admired is her long-lasting relationship with her late husband, Roger. Smith is best known for his role as the private investigator Jeff Spencer in the popular television series “77 Sunset Strip,” which catapulted him to stardom. The show was a huge success, and Smith’s portrayal of a suave detective endeared him to audiences across the nation. In his personal life, Roger married Australian actress Victoria Shaw in 1955. They had three children before divorcing in 1965.
Beyond his acting career, Roger made headlines when he married Ann-Margret in 1967. At the start of their courtship, Roger was said to have invited her to witness his performance at a nightclub, according to Country Living.
Roger Smith, Ann-Margret (1967) (Keystone/Getty Images)
The two proceeded to go on some lavish dates before they fell in love and officially started officially dating. Their bond grew so tight that a year later in May of 1967, they decided to tie the knot in a civil ceremony in Las Vegas.
Speaking with the New York Times, Ann-Margret said she knew almost right away she was going to marry Roger.
“The man I married is the man I knew I was going to marry on the third date,” she said.
Ann-Margret also told People in 2017, “I knew he would protect me. I knew that I could depend on him. I sensed it completely,” she said.
The couple’s marriage was not easy or simple. In 1972, Ann-Margret fell from a scaffold while performing on stage in Lake Tahoe. The accident severely damaged her face, and she needed surgery to fix it. She also harbored dreams of becoming a mother, which were scrapped after multiple attempts over 13 years, including with the use of a fertility pump and then-experimental device that periodically injected a hormone that aids ovulation into her stomach.
She told UPI, “The point is, if I am meant to have a child, I will have one. Whatever my higher power feels is right for me, I will accept. I know this may sound simplistic, but I believe in the serenity prayer.”
While she was never able to successfully conceive, she became a doting mother to her three stepchildren. “I met them when they were 3, 6, and 7,” she told Closer Weekly. She sounded like a proud stepmom when she said, “Two of them are doctors.”
Roger Smith, Ann-Margret (2016), (Paul Morigi/Getty Images Entertainment via Getty Images)
Around the early ‘80s, her husband Roger was diagnosed with a progressive muscular disease called myasthenia gravis, and was given a 10-year life expectancy. The diagnosis was a blow to Ann-Margret, who dropped everything to care for him, particularly when he was no longer able to walk.
“I kept saying no, no, no to everything because I was taking care of him. If you’re a spouse, if one of you has a broken wing, the other takes over,” she said. However, the award-winning star said even through all of that, their marriage was more than worth it.
“When I look back at my life, I am most proud of my marriage. … We both wanted it to work. And it did work. We were together night and day. We loved each other and were always in each other’s corner,” she shared.
After spending 50 years married to Ann-Margret, Roger passed away from complications due to his condition. However, Ann-Margret has not given up on enjoying life and holds on to her husband’s memory. “She lets herself be sad, but also cherishes the years they had together,” the insider added. “She believes he is still watching out for her.”
Ann-Margret is still working in Hollywood even now and has no interest in slowing down. She has consistently worked in television throughout the majority of the early 2000s. She starred in the 2021 film “Queen Bees” in a star-studded cast that included James Caan, Ellen Burstyn and Christopher Lloyd. “You’re not dead when you reach a certain age,” she said. “You have to keep living and not sit at home and watch TV alone. You have to participate.”
The legendary performer explained, “I always think that age is a natural progression, and I’m ready for it. Whatever! I’m going to be the best 85-year-old I can be.”
Roger Smith, Ann-Margret (2010), (Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic via Getty Images)
What are your thoughts on Ann-Margret and Roger Smith’s long-lasting love? How do you think their love story differs from that of Hollywood stars today? Let us know, then pass this along to all the Ann-Margret fans you know!
