What Was Ann Margret’s Affair With Elvis Presley Like, Who Is The Husband?

Quick Facts

Highly-acclaimed actress and musician Ann-Margret can be described as an all-around entertainer and a bonafide Hollywood icon. In her over 5-decade long showbiz career, the multitalented star has garnered numerous accolades the most notable of which are 5 Golden Globe Awards as well as nominations for 2 Academy Awards, 2 Grammy Awards, one SAG Award, and 6 Emmy Awards.

In addition to her on-screen and on-stage exploits, Ann-Margret also made headlines due to her romantic involvement with the late music icon Elvis Presley; the “King of Rock and Roll”. The two were co-stars in the 1964 musical Viva Las Vegas and thanks to her own amazing musical talents, Ann-Margret was widely regarded as the female Elvis Presley. Let’s take a closer look at Ann-Margret’s private life, her relationship with Elvis Presley, her family life and all there is to know about the iconic Hollywood star.

Who Is Ann-Margret?

At a time when very few had interest in showbiz, the legendary entertainer was born Ann-Margret Olsson on April 28, 1941, in Valsjöbyn, Jämtland County, Sweden. Her parents were Anna Regina (née Aronsson) and Carl Gustav Olsson. Her father immigrated to the United States in 1942 as a staff of the Johnson Electrical Company. She eventually moved to the US with her mother in November 1946 and the family settled in Wilmette, Illinois. She became naturalized as a US citizen in 1949.

Ann-Margret was first enrolled for dance lessons at the Marjorie Young School of Dance. She had her high school education at New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois and she featured in several talent shows during her teenage years. She enrolled for college in 1959 at Northwestern University, however, she did not complete her studies. Ann-Margret started out as a singer performing in several cities in the US as a member of a group called ‘Suttletones’. She landed a recording contract with RCA Victor in 1961. Her music career was fairly successful under RCA Victor as she got to perform at the 34th Academy Awards and also achieved a Billboard Top 40 hit “I Just Don’t Understand”.

Just like her music career, Ann-Margret’s acting career equally took off in 1961 as she landed a 7-year deal with 20th Century Fox. She marked her big screen debut in the comedy film Pocketful of Miracles (1961) for which she won the Golden Globe Award for New Star of the Year. Starring in the comedy musical Bye Bye Birdie (1963) earned Ann-Margret a second Golden Globe nomination and more importantly catapulted her to Hollywood stardom. The talented actress appeared opposite Elvis Presley in the musical film Viva Las Vegas (1964) and her acting career continued on a steady rise throughout the 1960s.

Ann-Margret took to stage performances in the late 1960s when her acting career experienced a brief lull. The talented actress returned to movies with a bang in the early 70s. In 1971, she received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in Carnal Knowledge (1971). She won a Golden Globe award and also scored a second Academy Award nomination for Best Actress for her lead role in the British musical drama Tommy (1975). Ann Margret’s career continued on a steady rise through the 1980s as she scored 2 Golden Globe Awards for her roles in Who Will Love My Children? (1983) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1984).

Over the years, Ann-Margret stood out for effectively keeping her music career going alongside her acting career. She scored her first Grammy nomination for Best New Artist in 1961 and received her second Grammy nomination in 2001 for her gospel album God Is Love: The Gospel Sessions. 

What Was Ann Margret’s Affair With Elvis Presley Like?

In the course of her longrunning showbiz career, Ann-Margret has had very few relationships, at least by Hollywood standards. The most notable among her romantic involvements was with the late music icon Elvis Presley. The two got together after starring opposite each other in the 1964 musical film Viva Las Vegas. Their on-screen chemistry in the movie morphed into a one-year long on-and-off relationship and a lifelong friendship of trust and respect.

Being at the peak of their respective careers at the time, Ann-Margret and Elvis Presley were a picture-perfect Hollywood couple, however, they didn’t make it all the way to the altar. Insider reports have it that Presley believed in the traditional role of women being homemakers and there seemed to be no possible way he could ‘mold’ the career-oriented Ann-Margret into his ‘ideal woman’.

A few years after their split, the two got married to their eventual spouses, Ann-Margret to Roger Smith and Elvis Presley to Priscilla Presley. As revealed in Margret’s 1994 memoir Ann-Margret: My Story, Elvis Presley continued to profess love for her even until his tragic death in 1977.

Husband and Kids

Ann-Margret had a 5-decade long marital union with Hollywood actor, producer, and screenwriter Roger Smith. The couple got married on May 8, 1967, and afterward, Smith became her manager. Ann-Margret had no children with her husband Smith, however, she is the stepmother of his 3 children from a previous union; a daughter named Tracey and sons Jordan and Dallas. A sterling example of longevity, their marriage lasted 50 years and came to end in June 2017 when Smith passed on.

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