Thursday, April 14, 2011

Part 1 of 5: Ann Margret.


Ann-Margret (born April 28, 1941) . Ann-Margret, took her first dance lessons at the Marjorie Young School of Dance in 1949. Her parents were supportive and her mother handmade all her costumes. While a teenager, Ann-Margret appeared on the Morris B. Sachs Amateur Hour, Don McNeill's Breakfast Club and Ted Mack's Amateur Hour.

Through high school, she continued to star in theatricals. As part of a group known as the "Suttletones". They traveled Los Angeles and, through agent Georgia Lund, landed club dates in Newport Beach and Reno, where Ann-Margret had a chance meeting with Marilyn Monroe, who was on location for the film, The Misfits. Monroe noticed her in the crowd, then chatted privately with her, offering her encouragement.

The group landed a gig at The Dunes in Las Vegas, which also headlined Tony Bennett and Al Hirt at that time. George Burns heard of her performance and she auditioned for his annual holiday show, in which she and Burns did a soft shoe routine. (pictured below)George Burns and Ann Margret, in the dressing room at the Sahara December 27, 1960.


Video from 1983.

3 comments:

  1. What a beautiful picture of Ann-Margret at the top! I remember being a very young teenager when she was making her films with Elvis Presley. Mom and Dad didn't like for me to see her in those movies when I was so young because of her overt sexuality. She was definitely uninhibited. But really wonderful. I loved her in "Tommy" as the mother.

    You may plan to discuss her role as wife to Roger Smith in a later installment, so I won't speak to that right now, only to say that I admired her greatly for her loyalty.

    Love this idea for a series about her!

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  2. Thank you Becky, Ann-Margret, is one of my favorite actress. Loved her when she performed with Elvis. You can discuss her relationship with her husband Roger Smith, if you would like. I'm going to focus mostly on her movie career.

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  3. LOVE YOUR TRIBUTE TO Ann- Margret. She has been my role model since I was a young girl. I am 64 now. In 2005 and 2006 I got the chance to go see her Vegas shows and go back stage and meet her and Roger. She was so sweet, we hugged and held hands as an associate of hers took our picture together. I will never forget it.

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