<\/p>\n
Legendary actress Ann-Margret<\/strong> is best known for her role in Bye Bye Birdie<\/em>, but the iconic star’s favorite role behind the scenes was that of a dedicated wife.<\/p>\n The redheaded stunner rose to superstardom in the \u201960s in iconic films like\u00a0Birdie<\/em>,\u00a0Viva Las Vegas<\/em>, and\u00a0The Train Robbers<\/em>. Always known for her wild dance moves, successful music<\/a> career, and sharp presence on camera, the beauty isn\u2019t often on the big screen these days. However, she has appeared on television in recent years, with appearances on Ray Donovan<\/em> and The Kominsky Method<\/em>. But no matter where she is, Ann-Margret loves to honor her late husband, Roger Smith<\/strong>, who died in 2017.<\/p>\n “They say Hollywood marriages don\u2019t last, but with Roger by my side, I knew we\u2019d prove them wrong. Fifty years later, and I still remember the way he made me laugh in the back of that car,” the actress shared in a new Instagram post. In the stunning throwback photo, Ann-Margret sits alongside Smith in the backseat of a car. Looking dapper in a gray suit, he holds his sunglasses in his hand.<\/p>\n \ud83c\udfac\u00a0<\/strong>SIGN UP for Parade\u2019s Daily newsletter to get the latest pop culture news & celebrity interviews delivered right to your inbox<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0\ud83c\udfac\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Born Ann-Margret Olsson in Sweden, she always wanted to be an actress.<\/p>\n \u201cI remember wanting to be in show business all my life<\/a>,\u201d Ann-Margret told\u00a0Fox News<\/a>\u00a0in 2024. \u201cAnd I remember one day I said to mother and daddy, \u2018I want to talk to you. It\u2019s a very, very important thing for me, and I want to get into show business.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n Her parents agreed, and she was eventually discovered by comedian\u00a0George Burns<\/strong>. Luckily, he gave her a spot on his\u00a0Las Vegas show.<\/p>\n At 84, Ann-Margret is showing no signs of slowing down. Happy and healthy, she even still loves to ride her motorcycle!<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s lavender, and it\u2019s got white daisies all over it,\u201d she told PEOPLE. \u201cThere are flowers on the back fender and the front fender. \u2026 I love speed. Not the drug.\u201d<\/p>\n Even a horrific accident back in 2000 didn\u2019t stop her from getting back on the bike. The actress was thrown off her Harley while riding in Minnesota. The accident resulted in three broken ribs and a fractured shoulder,\u00a0Vanity Fair<\/em><\/a>\u00a0reported. Along with other struggles in her life, Ann-Margret defiantly says she won\u2019t let those obstacles restrict her from enjoying life.<\/p>\n \u201cWell, \u2019cause it\u2019s not gonna get me down. I\u2019m just gonna get up on that bike again. I\u2019m going to get up from whatever happened to me,\u201d she explained. \u201cI will get up and\u00a0go.<\/em>\u201d<\/p>\n Related: ‘Bye Bye Birdie’ Icon Ann-Margret, 84, Dazzles in Pink in Rare Red Carpet Appearance<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n This story was originally published by Parade<\/a> on Jan 18, 2026, where it first appeared in the News<\/a> section. Add Parade as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/i><\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u2018 The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n \u2018 Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.yahoo.com \u2019 <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Legendary actress Ann-Margret is best known for her role in Bye Bye Birdie, but the iconic star’s favorite role behind the scenes was that of a dedicated wife. The redheaded stunner rose to superstardom in the \u201960s in iconic films like\u00a0Birdie,\u00a0Viva Las Vegas, and\u00a0The Train Robbers. Always known for her wild dance moves, successful music […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2241606,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":[],"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[25172],"tags":[433803,395348,393554,325069,433804,384158],"class_list":["post-2241605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-entertainment","tag-ann-margret","tag-bye-bye-birdie","tag-legendary-actress","tag-ray-donovan","tag-roger-smith","tag-viva-las-vegas"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/01\/Legendary-Redhead-Ann-Margret-84-Reflects-on-Her-50-Year-Marriage-With.jpeg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241605","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2241605"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241605\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2241607,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2241605\/revisions\/2241607"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2241606"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2241605"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2241605"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2241605"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}She Always Wanted to Work in Entertainment<\/h2>\n
Ann-Margret Still Rides Her Harley<\/h2>\n