BACKSTORY: Born in Sweden on April 28, 1941, Ann-Margret Olsson came to America at age five. Discovered by George Burns, she soon had both a record deal at RCA and a film contract at 20th Century-Fox. Her acting debut was as Bette Davis’ daughter in Frank Capra's remake “Pocketful of Miracles” (1961). A year later, she starred in the musical “State Fair” (1962) and won a Golden Globe Award for “Most Promising Newcomer” before her breakthrough the following year with “Bye Bye Birdie” (1963) and then “Viva Las Vegas” (1964) with Elvis Presley. She was often called “the female Elvis Presley.” For “Carnal Knowledge” (1971) she earned her first Oscar nomination and again in 1975 for “Tommy,” the rock opera film of the The Who. One of my favorite Ann-Margret performances was in the two-part TV miniseries “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles” (1987), based on the Dominick Dunne novel.
