Once celebrated as Hollywood’s iconic redheaded bombshell, Ann-Margret continues to command attention six decades after reaching stardom.
The legendary 85-year-old actress was all smiles during a rare Los Angeles appearance last weekend, where she was photographed using a wheelchair.
The Viva Las Vegas star appeared to be in high spirits as she arrived at a hotel on Saturday. Staff members were seen helping her as she made her way inside.
Ann-Margret looked effortlessly glamorous in an emerald-green jacket layered over an all-black outfit as she was escorted toward the entrance.
She completed the look with oversized dark sunglasses and a silver cross necklace, while her signature auburn hair rested in soft waves around her shoulders.
The two-time Oscar nominee was later seen grinning warmly from her wheelchair as she spoke with members of her party.
Hollywood legend Ann-Margret displayed her famous megawatt smile during a rare public appearance in Los Angeles last Saturday
The 85-year-old actress cut a stylish figure in an emerald-green jacket and all-black ensemble as she was wheeled into a hotel
In other photographs, the beloved performer could be seen standing with assistance beside a vehicle, with her wheelchair positioned close by.
Ann-Margret has only recently been seen using a wheelchair. She has also been photographed standing and walking, indicating that the aid may mainly help her travel to and from venues.
Her latest appearance follows a frightening fall at home in January that resulted in a broken elbow and required hospitalization.
“I fell the other day and so now my right elbow is broken,” the redheaded actress told Parade magazine at the time.
Even so, the Hollywood icon insisted she was not letting the accident define her, acknowledging that she had experienced plenty of falls over the years.
“That’s okay. I have fallen so many times,” she said. “I don’t intend to, but I do! What can I say?”
Ann-Margret became one of Hollywood’s biggest sex symbols during the 1960s. She is pictured in the 1964 film The Pleasure Seekers
The Swedish-born star wore her trademark reddish hair in soft, shoulder-length waves during last weekend’s outing
An attendant helped Ann-Margret out of her vehicle, nine months after she fell and fractured her elbow
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“I have always learned from my parents that you just get up. You just start all over again.”
Ann-Margret’s history of serious falls includes a 1972 accident in which she plunged 22 feet from a stage during a concert in Lake Tahoe, Nevada. The fall left her with a broken arm, a severe concussion and multiple facial fractures, including a crushed cheekbone.
Born Ann-Margret Olsson in Sweden in 1941, she moved to the United States with her family as a child and was raised in Illinois.
Her passion for singing and dancing emerged early, eventually leading her to pursue a career in show business after attending Northwestern University.
She first attracted attention as a nightclub performer, catching the eye of legendary comedian George Burns, who helped launch her entertainment career.
By the 1960s, Ann-Margret had secured a recording contract and begun making waves in Hollywood.
Ann-Margret last appeared onscreen in the 2022 Hallmark TV movie A Holiday Spectacular
Ann-Margret and Elvis Presley met on the set of Viva Las Vegas, directed and produced by George Sidney in 1964, which led to an offscreen romance
The movie led to Ann-Margret being dubbed the ‘Female Elvis’ and help shoot her to box-office stardom
The 60s’ ‘sex kitten’ initially captivated audiences with her vibrant, uninhibited dancing and magnetic screen presence but, over the decades, she successfully transformed her image into a highly respected, award-winning dramatic actress.
Dubbed the ‘Female Elvis,’ she skyrocketed to top box-office stardom with iconic roles in the musical Bye Bye Birdie and alongside Presley in Viva Las Vegas – which led to a romance between the two.
But she went on to marry her manager, Roger Smith, and they were together until his 2017 death. The couple had no children, though she was stepmother to his three offspring from a previous marriage.
Ann-Margret broke away from her ‘singing sex kitten’ persona by earning an Academy Award nomination for her raw performance in Mike Nichols’s Carnal Knowledge in 1971.
She secured a second Oscar nomination for the big-screen rock opera Tommy in 1975.
And she appeared in smash-hit comedies Grumpy Old Men in 1993 and Grumpier Old Men in 1995, starring alongside Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau.
Her most recent screen role was in the Hallmark movie A Holiday Spectacular.
Ann-Margret has five Golden Globe Awards, one Emmy Award, two Academy Award nominations and two Grammy Award nominations.