About Me
When Ann-Margret first appeared on the scene, it was easy to dislike her. The promotion was too hard sell and the "sex-kitten" angle was so blatant. Subtlety was completely absent. In addition, her talent seemed too small both for her exuberance and for the amount of praise she received. Before Ann-Margret had one commercially successful movie, Columbia announced they were thinking of casting her in re-makes of two of Rita Hayworth's biggest hits, "Gilda" and "Cover Girl", and MGM were planning to star Ann-Margret in an expensive musical, "Say It With Music" while still keeping Cyd Charisse unemployed! Ann-Margret was always a good-looking woman, with a pretty face, a very full figure and well shaped legs. However she was one of those woman who easily put on weight, and when she did her appearance was coarsened, as is apparent in both films and publicity photographs. In his gossipy, ungentlemanly, second autobiography "Been There, Done That", Eddie Fisher confirms that Ann-Margret was genuinely exuberant, energetic and full of life, but her image-makers should have advised her about the benefits of understatement. It was only in the second phase of Ann-Margret's career, during the 1970s, that her real worth was able to emerge from behind that barrage of aggressive hard sell. She was born Ann-Margret Olsen in 1941 to Swedish parents and emigrated to the States at the end of the 1940s. She began singing in her teens and was spotted by George Burns who included her in his Las Vegas act. Ann-Margret was given a record contract by RCA and was chosen to play Bette Davis's unsuspecting daughter in "Pocketful Of Miracles". She was then in the heavily criticised re-make of "State Fair" opposite Bobby Darin and Pat Boone. Ann-Margret gained enormous attention at the 1962 Academy Awards singing the Mancini song "Bachelor In Paradise" to sensational effect. She was cast as the girl who kisses Birdie before he joins the armed forces in "Bye Bye Birdie", a film directed by musical veteran George Sidney. Sidney then cast her opposite Elvis Presley in "Viva Las Vegas", where for the first time she indicated she might have interesting talent. Sidney took care to show Ann-Margret's good looks: the camera drools over her legs when first she enters the movie and later, in her "The Lady Loves Me" duet with Presley, the audience is given ample time to examine how Ann-Margret looks in a swim-suit. Ann-Margret's publicist let it be known that George Sidney had given her an additional solo number. The movie's publicists concocted a story about a romance between the two stars which got considerable mileage. At this point Ann-Margret - or her advisors - decided that, like Carroll Baker, she would market herself as sexy. For the next few years, she concentrated on film roles that emphasised her physical attractiveness, and she played these parts with a distinct lack of subtlety. In "Kitten With A Whip" Ann-Margret played a juvenile delinquent who makes life miserable for a politician. In "The Pleasure Seekers" she was given new songs by James Van Heusen and Sammy Cahn which she sang without sensitivity. Her acting was also lacking in charm, in contrast to Pamela Tiffin who was photographed more attractively. Ann-Margret was again a temptress in "Bus Riley's Back In Town" and again she performed with an irritating obviousness. It was during this period that the big publicity push came. In addition to the Presley romance story came endless talk about how she was the hottest new star in Hollywood plus the usual trifles about how she liked to dress casually and what her ambitions were. There were, of course, a large number of photographs, many of which today look absurd. In selling a sexy image, Ann-Margret deployed the full range of facial expressions which in the early and mid 1960s were believed to suggest eroticism but which now suggest only stupidity. (Students of that brand of idiocy will find many such pictures of Ann-Margret all over the Internet, but not on this website.) Nevertheless Ann-Margret's marketing strategy must have worked because, in contrast to what Raquel Welch achieved a decade later, her films were commercially successful until the late 1960s. Most of these films have not survived however, partly because they were not good films and partly because Ann-Margret was the only "name" in the cast. The notable exception was "The Cincinnati Kid" which had an all-star cast and a good screenplay. At the end of the 1960s, Ann-Margret suffered a box-office slump. She made films abroad until she was cast against type in "Carnal Knowledge", playing a sexually-driven woman with serious psychological problems. Director Mike Nichols asked Ann-Margret to put on weight for the movie, and she responded by blooming in the Anita Ekberg manner! Her bust increased to heroic proportions, and Ann-Margret - and her body - were once again the centre of media attention. Ann-Marget was Oscar-nominated for her work on "Carnal Knowledge, but despite public interest she failed to secure parts or movies that enabled her to capitalise on her new acclaim. Her next movie was one of John Wayne's weaker films, "The Train Robbers". Thereafter she settled for combining her night club act with being a rather sexy, middle rank movie star specialising in earthy roles. In "Magic", an under-rated movie which plagiarised both "Dead Of Night" and "Psycho", Ann-Margret gave an excellent performance opposite Anthony Hopkins and, with a subdued earthiness, was more deeply sexy than earlier in her career. Her public image changed as well. No longer was a blatant, hard sell approach utilised. Now her photographs projected a dignified, thoughtful image, although attention was still paid to her legs and figure. Ann-Margret gained widespread admiration by recovering quickly from injuries when a stage collapsed under her in Las Vegas, and by resuming her career without self-pity. Ann-Margret has continued her twin careers very successfully and still appears in major Hollywood productions like "Any Given Sunday". In addition RCA are re-issuing her record albums on compact disc.
