ANN-MARGRET - It's Been a WILD RIDE

NEW CHALLENGES CONTINUE TO THRILL THE BELOVED ACTRESS AND SINGER

- LOUISE A. BARILE

Ann-Margret calls Closer from her longtime home high in the Hollywood hills — and she is not alone. “That meow you hear is my little baby Harley, who’s 19 years old,” she says. “My kitty is here and also my dog, Miss Mona. I named her after the character I portrayed [on stage] in The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.”

At 82, the actress, singer and dancer describes her life as “serene,” but anyone else might call it busier than ever. Ann-Margret recently released a self-titled fragrance whose profits will support the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund. In April, she put out her first album of rock covers, Born to Be Wild. “I love performing,” she says. “I love seeing people happy.”

Many of Ann-Margret Olsson’s memories from her early childhood in Sweden are musical. “My first musical memory was the sounds of an accordion,” she says, explaining that her Uncle Calle used to play. Before long, she joined in. “Ever since I was 4 years old, I would get up and harmonize with my mother on Swedish songs.”

Immigrating with her family to the United States in 1946, Ann-Margret took dance lessons and began singing in talent competitions. She was performing with a group called the Suttletones in Las Vegas when vaudeville veteran George Burns hired her to do a dance routine with him at his annual holiday show. But success didn’t come overnight. Ann-Margret paid her dues for several additional years until Frank Capra’s Pocketful of Miracles, her first film, won her a Golden Globe for best newcomer in 1962.