Long before Hollywood knew her as one of the most magnetic stars of the 1960s, Ann-Margret was simply a young Swedish-born performer with an almost explosive energy.
She could sing, dance and act. Her red hair became a trademark. Her chemistry with Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas became legendary, and by her early twenties she was one of Hollywood’s most recognizable young stars.
But behind the glamorous photographs was a love story that would ultimately become more important to Ann-Margret than fame.
She married actor Roger Smith in 1967. They stayed together for exactly half a century, through career triumphs, a near-fatal accident and decades of serious illness. As Roger’s health deteriorated, Ann-Margret increasingly turned down work so she could remain beside him.
When he died in 2017 at 84, she lost the man she had described not merely as her husband, but as her partner in virtually every part of life. People.com
Before Roger, Ann-Margret Became a Sensation Almost Overnight
Born Ann-Margret Olsson in Sweden in 1941, she moved to the United States with her family as a child.
Her breakthrough arrived remarkably quickly.
By 1963, Bye Bye Birdie had turned her into a major star. Then came perhaps the movie most closely associated with her early career: 1964’s Viva Las Vegas.
Opposite Elvis Presley, Ann-Margret seemed to possess the rare ability to match his charisma rather than disappear beside it.
The two became one of the most visually memorable screen couples of the decade.
Her Hollywood image was glamorous, sexy and relentlessly energetic.
But the relationship that ultimately defined her private life wasn’t with Elvis.
It was with another actor.
Roger Smith Was a Star in His Own Right
Roger Smith wasn’t an anonymous man who suddenly married a famous actress.
He had already achieved considerable fame.
Tall and handsome, Smith was best known for playing private detective Jeff Spencer on the hit television series 77 Sunset Strip. He later starred in Mister Roberts and appeared in movies including Auntie Mame. The Washington Post
Ann-Margret and Roger had initially crossed paths earlier in the decade, but their romance developed in the mid-1960s.
By then, Roger’s first marriage to actress Victoria Shaw had ended. He and Shaw shared three children.
Ann-Margret and Roger married quietly in Las Vegas on May 8, 1967. Los Angeles Times
The marriage would last until his death.
Their Wedding Wasn’t Quite the Fairy Tale Ann-Margret Imagined
Interestingly, Ann-Margret later admitted that her wedding day wasn’t exactly what she had dreamed about.
The ceremony was intimate, and she reportedly cried — but not entirely from happiness. She had imagined a more traditional wedding, and the Vegas setting wasn’t quite what she had pictured.
The marriage itself proved far more enduring than the ceremony.
Ann-Margret became stepmother to Roger’s three children, and although she and Roger never had biological children together, family became central to their life.
Meanwhile, Roger made a decision that was extremely unusual for a successful actor at the time.
He began stepping away from his own career.
Roger Gave Up Stardom to Help Build Hers
Smith eventually stopped acting and became Ann-Margret’s manager.
It wasn’t because he couldn’t find work.
He decided that maintaining two major acting careers while trying to preserve their marriage wasn’t the life he wanted.
Years later, Smith explained that after finding Ann-Margret, being with her mattered more than his childhood dream of becoming a famous actor. The Washington Post
He helped guide her away from the limiting “sex kitten” image that had dominated her early career.
The transformation worked.
In 1971, Ann-Margret delivered a dramatic performance in Mike Nichols’ Carnal Knowledge, earning an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress.
A few years later, she received another Oscar nomination — this time for Best Actress — for Tommy. Los Angeles Times
The woman who had once been marketed largely for her looks had established herself as a serious actress.
And Roger was beside her through it all.
Then Ann-Margret Nearly Died
In 1972, their roles suddenly changed.
Ann-Margret was performing at Lake Tahoe when she fell approximately 22 feet from an elevated stage platform.
The accident was devastating.
She suffered severe injuries, including serious facial damage that required reconstructive treatment. Los Angeles Times
Roger immediately took charge.
According to later accounts, he helped make crucial decisions about her medical treatment and recovery.
Ann-Margret eventually returned to performing with remarkably little visible evidence of what she had endured.
But the accident established something that would become increasingly important in their marriage.
When one of them was vulnerable, the other stepped in.
Years later, Ann-Margret would have to do the same thing for Roger.
Roger Developed a Serious Neuromuscular Disease
Smith suffered from myasthenia gravis, an autoimmune neuromuscular disorder that can cause profound muscle weakness.
During particularly severe periods, his condition could make ordinary physical actions extremely difficult.
Roger Ebert visited the couple in 1983 and described the uncertainty surrounding Smith’s illness. Some days he functioned relatively well; on others, he could be too weak to get out of bed. Roger Ebert
At one point, the disease left him so weak that swallowing became difficult and he couldn’t make a fist. The Washington Post
The dynamic of their marriage changed.
Roger had once managed Ann-Margret.
Now she increasingly became his caregiver.
She Put Work Aside When He Needed Her
This is where the glamorous Hollywood story became something much quieter.
When Roger’s condition was particularly serious, Ann-Margret suspended performing for months to care for him. The Washington Post
Over the years, as his health needs increased, she continued prioritizing him over professional opportunities.
She later explained the philosophy simply: when one spouse has a “broken wing,” the other takes over.
There wasn’t anything particularly Hollywood about it.
There were medications, appointments, frightening periods of weakness and ordinary days spent together at home.
And for Ann-Margret, the experience changed her.
Caring for Roger Forced Her to Become More Independent
There was an interesting irony in their relationship.
For years, Ann-Margret had relied heavily on Roger.
He wasn’t only her husband.
He was her manager.
Her business partner.
Her adviser.
Her protector.
In 1972, she famously described him as all the men she needed rolled into one: father figure, friend, lover, manager and businessman. Los Angeles Times
But when Roger became seriously ill, she could no longer depend on him in the same way.
She had to learn to handle things herself.
Ann-Margret later wrote that the shy, dependent woman she had been gradually disappeared. She learned to make business decisions, deal with investments and handle the ordinary practical responsibilities Roger had previously managed. The Washington Post
Caring for him didn’t simply change her schedule.
It changed her.
They Still Found Ways to Laugh
Looking at later photographs of the couple, the transformation is striking.
The young television heartthrob eventually required mobility assistance.
Ann-Margret, once photographed dancing across movie sets in high heels, was increasingly seen standing protectively beside him.
But she has emphasized that illness wasn’t the entirety of their marriage.
They laughed.
A lot.
In a recent reflection on their relationship, Ann-Margret said Roger’s humor was among the things she missed most. She described their 54 years together — including the years before marriage — as deeply happy. People.com
That longevity became something she regarded with enormous pride.
Their Marriage Reached 50 Years
Hollywood marriages are often measured in months or a handful of years.
Ann-Margret and Roger made it to 50.
Their golden anniversary came in May 2017.
Less than a month later, everything changed.
Roger died on June 4, 2017, at a Los Angeles hospital.
He was 84. Los Angeles Times
For Ann-Margret, it marked the end of a relationship that had encompassed almost her entire adult life.
They had been together for approximately 54 years.
Married for 50.
He had helped rebuild her career.
She had helped care for him through decades of illness.
And suddenly she was without him.
“He Meant Everything to Me”
Years later, Ann-Margret still speaks about Roger in the present emotional tense.
“He meant everything to me,” she said while reflecting on their marriage in 2026. People.com
It isn’t difficult to understand why.
Their relationship had never existed solely in the background of her career.
Roger helped shape that career.
When Hollywood wanted Ann-Margret primarily as a glamorous sex symbol, he helped her pursue serious dramatic work.
When she nearly died in her stage accident, he cared for her.
When he became seriously ill, she returned that devotion.
Their marriage was less a separate chapter of Ann-Margret’s story than the thread running through almost all of it.
Life After Roger Was Quiet at First
After his death, Ann-Margret understandably stepped away from much of the public spotlight.
She was already in her seventies and had nothing left to prove professionally.
Her career included two Academy Award nominations, multiple Emmy nominations, major television work, hit movies, stage performances and a permanent place in 1960s pop culture.
She could easily have retired.
Instead, after a period of grieving, something familiar began pulling her back.
Work.
Three Years Later, She Returned to Acting
In 2020, roughly three years after Roger’s death, Ann-Margret appeared in the romantic comedy ** Queen Bees ** alongside Ellen Burstyn, James Caan, Jane Curtin and Christopher Lloyd.
For longtime fans, seeing her on screen again carried an emotional significance.
She wasn’t trying to recreate the young woman from Viva Las Vegas.
She didn’t need to.
She was entering another stage of a career that had already survived more reinventions than most.
Then came another reminder that Ann-Margret wasn’t finished.
At 81, She Released a Rock Album
In 2023, Ann-Margret released Born to Be Wild, a rock album featuring collaborations with musicians including Pete Townshend, Joe Perry and Pat Boone.
The title couldn’t have suited her better.
This was, after all, a woman who had spent decades riding motorcycles and maintaining an image built around movement and energy.
The years had changed her.
They hadn’t erased that part of her.
The RARE PHOTOS Tell Their 50-Year Love Story
The RARE PHOTOS of Ann-Margret and Roger Smith through the decades reveal an extraordinary progression.
There are the glamorous early pictures from the 1960s, when both were famous and strikingly photogenic.
There are wedding photographs from 1967.
Red carpets from the 1970s.
Images from the years when Roger managed her career.
And then there are the later photographs.
Roger older and physically more fragile.
Ann-Margret leaning toward him.
Her arms wrapped around his shoulders.
His wheelchair visible beneath him.
The glamour hasn’t entirely disappeared — Ann-Margret could make almost any photograph glamorous — but something else has replaced it as the focus.
Companionship.
She Still Considers Their Marriage Her Greatest Achievement
That might be the most revealing detail of all.
Ann-Margret accumulated the kind of résumé most performers could only dream about.
She worked with Elvis Presley.
Jack Nicholson.
Steve McQueen.
John Wayne.
Walter Matthau.
She earned two Oscar nominations and became one of the defining entertainment personalities of her generation. Biography
But when she reflects on her life, she has described her marriage to Roger as the accomplishment of which she is most proud. People.com
Not Viva Las Vegas.
Not the Oscar nominations.
Not the television awards.
Fifty years with Roger.
At 85, Ann-Margret Is Still Moving Forward
Ann-Margret turned 85 in April 2026.
The young woman who once danced beside Elvis Presley is now more than six decades removed from the movie that helped make her an international star.
Yet photographs of her today still reveal something unmistakably familiar.
The smile.
The red hair.
And, perhaps most importantly, that irrepressible energy.
Roger is no longer physically beside her.
But she has made it clear that the life they shared remains central to who she is.
Their marriage began quietly in Las Vegas in 1967.
It survived Hollywood.
It survived a catastrophic accident.
It survived decades of illness.
And it reached its 50th anniversary shortly before Roger died.
The RARE PHOTOS from those five decades therefore tell a story very different from the typical Hollywood romance.
Ann-Margret began as one of the most glamorous stars of the 1960s.
Roger Smith began as a handsome television leading man.
Eventually, neither fame nor beauty was the most important thing connecting them.
When Ann-Margret was injured, Roger cared for her.
When Roger became ill, she put parts of her career aside and cared for him.
And when she finally returned to work after losing him, she wasn’t trying to reclaim the woman she’d once been.
She was carrying forward the life they had built together.
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