Iconic actress and singer Ann-Margret recently attended the 25th Women’s Image Awards event at the Saban Theater in Beverly Hills. There, she received the Living Legend Award, for which she felt grateful and reminded of her Hollywood legacy.
After receiving the award presented by philanthropist Wallis Annenberg, Ann-Margret reflected and said, “I am so blessed. I just can’t believe all the things that have happened to me. I never expected it. Never.” She also recalled how supportive her parents were of her show business career.
Ann-Margret says speed keeps her young
Ann-Margret is in her 80s but has no plans to slow down. “I love speed. Not the drug,” the Bye Bye Birdie star said. Being a motorcyclist, Ann owns a Harley Davidson, which is “lavender, and it’s got white daisies all over it. There’s flowers on the back fender and on the front fender. I love the speed.”
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Wallis gushed about her youthfulness while giving Ann-Margret her awards, saying that “people want to dip you in bronze and stick you on a shelf somewhere, legend or not,” when you age as an entertainer. “But why gather dust on a shelf when you are still young and vital, and ready to rock? Why go gently into the night when you can ride your lavender Harley until sunrise and be your own damn woman?” she asked.
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A glamorous career
Ann’s career took off when comedian George Burns discovered her and put her on his Las Vegas holiday show at the Sahara. Soon, she was acting, dancing, and singing alongside the Rock ‘n’ Roll king Elvis Presley in 1964’s Viva Las Vegas. “It’s a very, very important thing for me, and I want to get into show business,” she had told her parents before joining jazz group The Suttletones and moving out of her hometown.
Wallis praised Ann-Margret’s thriving legacy, which has earned her “five Golden Globes, an Emmy, and two Oscar nominations to prove it.”
“Legend means you haven’t just shared a screen with Elvis Presley, Jack Nicholson, and Jack Lemmon, you’ve dominated it. And it’s not their performances people are talking about decades later, it’s yours,” she proudly stated. “No wonder Hedda Hopper once called you Hollywood’s new Garbo.”