Age, Biography, and Wiki
Ann-Margret Olsson was born on April 28, 1941, in Stockholm, Sweden. She moved to the United States with her family at a young age and grew up in Wilmette, Illinois. Her early life set the stage for a dynamic career in the arts, with her parents encouraging her to pursue music and dance. Ann-Margret attended New Trier High School and later enrolled at Northwestern University, where she studied speech and drama.
| Occupation | Movie Actress |
|---|---|
| Date of Birth | 28 April 1941 |
| Age | 84 Years |
| Birth Place | Krokom, Sweden |
| Horoscope | Taurus |
| Country | Sweden |
Height, Weight & Measurements
Ann-Margret's physical measurements are not extensively detailed in recent sources, but she is known for her striking appearance and energetic stage presence.
On Sunday, 10 September 1972, while performing at Lake Tahoe, she fell 22 ft from an elevated platform to the stage and suffered injuries including a broken left arm, cheekbone, and jawbone. She required meticulous facial reconstructive surgery that required wiring her mouth shut and putting her on a liquid diet. Unable to work for ten weeks, she returned to the stage almost back to normal.
A keen motorcyclist, Ann-Margret rode a 500 cc Triumph T100C Tiger in The Swinger (1966) and used the same model, fitted with a nonstandard electric starter, in her stage show and her TV specials. She was featured in Triumph Motorcycles' official advertisements in the 1960s. She suffered three broken ribs and a fractured shoulder when she was thrown off a motorcycle in rural Minnesota in 2000.
| Height | |
| Weight | |
| Body Measurements | |
| Eye Color | |
| Hair Color |
Dating & Relationship Status
Ann-Margret has been married to Roger Smith, an actor, since May 1967. The couple resided in Beverly Hills, California, and Ann-Margret continued to live in their home after Roger's passing.
She described Valsjöbyn as a small town of "lumberjacks and farmers high up near the Arctic Circle". Her father had emigrated to the United States, but returned to Sweden in 1937 and married Anna Aronsson. After Ann-Margret's birth, Gustav wanted to emigrate again with the family.
After World War II, his wife hesitated and Gustav emigrated alone, but was joined by his wife and daughter in 1946. In 1949, Ann-Margret became a naturalized American citizen.
Ann-Margret took her first dance lessons at the Marjorie Young School of Dance, showing natural ability from the start, easily mimicking all the steps. Her parents were supportive, and her mother made all of her costumes by hand. To support the family, Ann-Margret's mother became a funeral parlor receptionist after her husband suffered a severe injury on his job. While a teenager, Ann-Margret appeared on the Morris B. Sachs Amateur Hour, Don McNeill's Breakfast Club, and Ted Mack's Amateur Hour. She continued to star in theater as she attended New Trier High School in Winnetka, Illinois. (Two fellow movie stars Charlton Heston and Rock Hudson, had graduated from the school many years earlier.)
Ann-Margret said she dropped her last name before moving out to California, because when you are an entertainer, "mean things" can be written about you and she didn't want her parents to be hurt by anything written about her.
While she was working on Once a Thief, she met her future husband 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 was met with resistance from her parents.
During a lull in her film career in July 1967, Ann-Margret gave her first live performance in Las Vegas, with her husband Roger Smith (whom she had married that May) taking over as her manager after that engagement. Elvis Presley and his entourage came to see her during the show's five-week run and celebrate backstage. According to Ann-Margret's autobiography, Presley sent her a guitar-shaped floral arrangement for each of her Vegas openings. After the first Vegas run ended, she followed with a CBS television special The Ann-Margret Show, produced and directed by David Winters on 1 December 1968, with guest-stars Bob Hope, Jack Benny, Danny Thomas, and Carol Burnett. Then, she returned to Saigon as part of Hope's Christmas show. A second CBS television special followed, Ann-Margret: From Hollywood With Love, produced, directed and choreographed by David Winters, with guest-stars Dean Martin and Lucille Ball. David Winters and the show were nominated for a Primetime Emmy in Outstanding Choreography.
In 1971, she starred in Carnal Knowledge by director Mike Nichols, playing the girlfriend of a neglectful, arguably abusive character played by Jack Nicholson. She was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, and won the Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress. Filmink argued this amounted to a comeback "in a way...because she never really regained her former status as an above-the-title star of feature films – her follow-up movies were 'girl' parts... the seventies were tough times for female stars who were not Barbra Streisand."
Ann-Margret starred opposite Bruce Dern in Middle Age Crazy (1980). In 1982, she co-starred with Walter Matthau and Dinah Manoff in the film version of Neil Simon's play I Ought to Be in Pictures. That same year also saw the release of Lookin' to Get Out, filmed two years prior in 1980, in which she co-starred with Jon Voight and played the mother of a five-year-old Angelina Jolie in Jolie's screen debut. To round out 1982, she appeared alongside Alan Bates, Glenda Jackson, and Julie Christie in the film adaptation of The Return of the Soldier. She also starred in the TV movies Who Will Love My Children? (1983) and a remake of A Streetcar Named Desire (1984), winning Golden Globe Awards for both performances.
In Twice in a Lifetime (1985) Ann-Margret portrayed a waitress for whom Gene Hackman's character left his wife. The next year she appeared as the wife of Roy Scheider's character in the crime thriller 52 Pick-Up. In 1987 she co-starred with Elizabeth Ashley (and also with Claudette Colbert, in the last on-screen role of the film legend's career) in the NBC two-part series "The Two Mrs. Grenvilles". It earned Ann-Margret another Emmy Award nomination, this time for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Mini Series or a Special.
She also filmed Any Given Sunday (1999) for director Oliver Stone, portraying the mother of football team owner Cameron Diaz. She filmed a cameo appearance for The Limey, but her performance was cut from the movie.
She made guest appearances on the television show Touched by an Angel in 2000 and three episodes of Third Watch in 2003. 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. The production co-starred Gary Sandy and Ed Dixon. She played Jimmy Fallon's mother in the 2004 comedy Taxi, co-starring Queen Latifah. In 2001, Ann-Margret worked with Art Greenhaw on the album God Is Love: The Gospel Sessions. The project resulted in her second Grammy Award nomination and first Dove Award nomination for Best Album of the Year in a Gospel category. They teamed up again in 2004 for the album Ann-Margret's Christmas Carol Collection. She performed material from the album at two auditorium church services at Crystal Cathedral in Garden Grove, California, and broadcast worldwide on the program Hour of Power.
Ann-Margret is a stepmother of three children of her husband Roger Smith, an actor, who later became her manager. She and Smith were married for 50years from 8May 1967 until his death on 4June 2017. Before her marriage to Smith, she dated Eddie Fisher; was briefly engaged to Burt Sugarman, and was romantically linked to Elvis Presley when they co-starred in the film Viva Las Vegas in 1964.
In a 2012 interview, she stated, "All my life I've had this feeling, deep, deep, deep inside of me...my faith and my feelings....I mean you go outside and you see flowers. You see the trees. You see all your loved ones, you see...and then you think of Who created it all." She described her relationship with God, and with Jesus Christ as "something which is really important to me. If I thought that I would never see my mother and father again, I couldn't make it. I could not go a step further."
| Parents | |
| Husband | Roger Smith (m. 1967-2017) |
| Sibling | |
| Children |
Net Worth and Salary
As of 2025, Ann-Margret's net worth is estimated to be around $25 million, primarily derived from her successful acting career in films and television, as well as earnings from her music endeavors. Some sources estimate her net worth slightly lower, at $20 million.
After Barbara Stanwyck won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie in 1983 for her role in The Thorn Birds, she mentioned Ann-Margret's performance in Who Will Love My Children?, stating at the podium "I would like to pay a personal tribute at this time to a lady who is a wonderful entertainer...I think she gave one of the finest, most beautiful performances I have ever seen...Ann-Margret, you were superb."
Career, Business, and Investments
Ann-Margret's career spans over five decades, with notable roles in films like "Viva Las Vegas," "Tommy," "Carnal Knowledge," and "Grumpy Old Men." She has also released 14 music albums, showcasing her versatility as a singer. Her television appearances include guest roles in "Law & Order: Special Victims Unit," "CSI: Crime Scene Investigation," and "Army Wives." Ann-Margret has won five Golden Globe Awards and received two Academy Award nominations, demonstrating her enduring impact on the entertainment industry. As for business and investments, there is no extensive information available on specific ventures beyond her entertainment career.
Ann-Margret Olsson (born 28 April 1941), credited as Ann-Margret, is an American actress and singer with a career spanning seven decades. Her many screen roles include Pocketful of Miracles (1961), State Fair (1962), Bye Bye Birdie (1963), Viva Las Vegas (1964), Carnal Knowledge (1971), The Train Robbers (1973), Tommy (1975), The Return of the Soldier (1982), 52 Pick-Up (1986), Newsies (1992), Grumpy Old Men (1993), Any Given Sunday (1999), Taxi (2004), and Going in Style (2017). Her accolades include five Golden Globe Awards and an Emmy Award in addition to two Academy Award nominations and two Grammy nominations.
Her only charting album was Beauty and the Beard (1964), on which she was accompanied by trumpeter Al Hirt. Other career highlights included appearing on The Jack Benny Program in 1961 and singing the Bachelor in Paradise theme at the 34th Academy Awards in 1962. Her contract with RCA Victor ended in 1966. In 1963, Life Magazine mentioned that her recordings had sold in excess of half a million units.
Then came a 1962 remake of Rodgers and Hammerstein's musical State Fair, in which she played the "bad girl" role of Emily opposite Bobby Darin and Pat Boone. She had previously tested for the part of Margie, the "good girl", but the studio bosses deemed her too seductive for that role. In her autobiography, Ann-Margret wrote that the two roles seemed to represent the two sides of her real-life personality. She was shy and reserved offstage but wildly exuberant and sensuous onstage, transforming "from Little Miss Lollipop to Sexpot-Banshee", in her words. In a 2021 retrospective of Ann-Margret's career for FilmInk, Stephen Vagg argued "she wasn't that well cast as a bad girl. Because she had so much energy and shape, producers thought she was; but she was more effective in parts closer to what she was in real life: an energetic good girl with a twinkle in the eye."
Ann-Margret met Elvis Presley on the MGM soundstage when the two filmed Viva Las Vegas (1964). Filmink argued "She had so much energy and pep that she had blown her previous three male co-stars off screen, but Elvis could match her. He was the best on-screen partner she ever had, and she was his." She recorded three duets with Presley for the film: "The Lady Loves Me", "You're the Boss", and "Today, Tomorrow, and Forever"; only "The Lady Loves Me" made it into the final film and none of them were commercially released until years after Presley's death, due to concerns by Colonel Tom Parker that Ann-Margret's presence threatened to overshadow Elvis. Choreographer David Winters was hired because Ann-Margret was his dance student and recommended him for the job. It was Winters' first choreographer credit on film. He would go on to become a common collaborator for both Presley and Ann-Margret.
Ann-Margret starred in four films in 1966. Made in Paris, the first of these, was a fashion-focused romantic comedy in which Ann-Margret received top billing. FilmInk attributes its box office failure to "dodgy writing and uninspiring male leads". A month after its release, she teamed up with entertainers Chuck Day and Mickey Jones for a USO tour to entertain U.S. servicemen in South Vietnam and other parts of South-East Asia. A moderately successful remake of the classic John Ford Western Stagecoach followed, with Ann-Margret essaying the role of a prostitute. She then starred in the "hopelessly confused" sex comedy The Swinger which, in Stephen Vagg's words, "came close to killing her Hollywood career more than any other [film] by virtue of its sheer incompetence." Ann-Margret ended 1966 by featuring in the hit Dean Martin–starrer Murderers' Row, a spy spoof. Looking at Ann-Margret's uneven draw at the box office, Vagg points out that after Viva Las Vegas, her roles in hit films "had been parts any girl could have played" but the star vehicles that were tailored for her were all flops.
In 1970, she returned to films with R. P. M., where she starred alongside Anthony Quinn, and C.C. and Company with Joe Namath as a biker and her portraying a fashion journalist.
For her contributions to the film industry, Ann-Margret received a motion pictures star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 1973. Her star is located at 6501 Hollywood Boulevard.
Social Network
While Ann-Margret is not particularly active on modern social media platforms, her legacy and contributions to the arts continue to be celebrated by fans and industry professionals alike.
Ann-Margret published an autobiography in 1994 titled Ann-Margret: My Story, in which she publicly acknowledged her battle with and ongoing recovery from alcoholism. She played Belle Watling in Scarlett (1994), a television miniseries loosely based on the 1991 book of the same name written by Alexandra Ripley as a sequel to Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel Gone with the Wind. In 1995, Empire magazine ranked her tenth on its list of the 100 Sexiest Stars in film history.
Ann-Margret also starred in several television films, including Queen: The Story of an American Family (1993), Following Her Heart (1994), and Life of the Party (1999), the latter of which she received nominations for an Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Screen Actors Guild Award.
The 2005 CBS miniseries Elvis includes the story of her affair with Elvis Presley during the filming of Viva Las Vegas. She was portrayed by the actress Rose McGowan. She also provided the voice of a fictionalized version of herself in The Flintstones 1963 episode "Ann-Margrock Presents".
Education
Ann-Margret attended New Trier High School and later enrolled at Northwestern University, where she studied speech and drama. Although she did not graduate, her education laid the groundwork for her future success in the entertainment industry.
In 1961, Ann-Margret filmed a screen test at 20th Century Fox and was signed to a seven-year contract. She made her film debut in a loan-out to United Artists in Frank Capra's Pocketful of Miracles with Bette Davis; it is a remake of Capra's own Lady for a Day (1933). For her performance Ann-Margret was awarded her first Golden Globe, for New Actress of the Year alongside Jane Fonda and Christine Kaufmann.
Ann-Margret was an early choice of Allan Carr's to play the role of Sandy Dumbrowski in the 1978 film Grease. At 36 years of age when filming commenced, she was ultimately determined to be too old to convincingly play the role of a high school student. Twenty-eight-year-old Olivia Newton-John got the role instead, and the character was renamed "Sandy Olsson" (after Ann-Margret's birth surname) in her honor.
