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<\/figure>\n\n\n\nBefore Ann-Margret married Smith, she dated Elvis Presley, a singer and her co-star in \u201cViva Las Vegas.\u201d Even after she moved on with Smith, she and the singer remained friends until Presley died.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She valued their friendship so much that even after she resumed her career after her husband\u2019s death, Ann-Margret excluded the songs made famous by Presley from her album. She said of leaving some songs out:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI decided not to. Everyone knows how I felt about him and the friendship that we had all these years. It was very, very private.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
After getting married, Ann-Margret and Smith were inseparable. \u201cI knew I was going to marry him on the third date,\u201d she revealed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
They couldn\u2019t stand being on film sets on the opposite ends of the country. Eventually, Smith became her manager to ensure they would always be together. \u201cThe Swinger\u201d singer said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cNow, in Roger, I\u2019ve found all the men I need rolled into one \u2014 a father, a friend, a lover, a manager, a businessman. It\u2019s perfect for me. I couldn\u2019t exist without a strong man.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith was a great manager to her as he helped her grow beyond the image of the cartoon character that critics had of her. Due to his efforts, Ann-Margret landed challenging parts in \u201cCarnal Knowledge\u201d and \u201cTommy,\u201d which earned her critical acclaim and recognition from award-show voters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The actress went on to feature in great film series such as \u201cGrumpy Old Men.\u201d She also had a guest appearance in \u201cLaw & Order: Special Victims Unit,\u201d which earned her an Emmy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Smith once revealed in an interview that he had a dream of co-starring with his wife on a Broadway play after she left the movies. Unfortunately, the duo never fulfilled this dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Like with most marriages, Ann-Margret and her husband faced several challenges, but they remained united through it all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n They were lucky enough to have a long life together and even celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary shortly before Smith\u2019s demise. It was always Smith\u2019s wish to reach the milestone, and he was ecstatic when it happened.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After years of Smith managing his wife\u2019s career, Ann-Margret matched her husband\u2019s support by being there for him in his personal life. When Smith was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis and Parkinson\u2019s disease, the actress pressed pause on her career. She said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI kept saying no, no, no to everything because I was taking care of him. If you\u2019re a spouse, if one of you has a broken wing, the other takes over.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n A person close to Ann-Margret revealed the actress was an \u201camazing nurse\u201d to her husband during his illness. But the love did not end there. She reportedly still held her husband dear even after he died. \u201cTo her, a great love story doesn\u2019t end with death. You carry their spirit with you,\u201d the friend disclosed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Following her husband\u2019s death, Ann-Margret noted that she was grateful for all the years she shared with him:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen I look back at my life, I am most proud of my marriage\u2026We both wanted it to work. And it did work. We were together night and day. We loved each other and were always in each other\u2019s corner.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She mourned him and, amidst the pain, attempted to move on by focusing on her passions and talents. She also fondly recalls the life they had together.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ann-Margret tried to get pregnant for 13 years. She revealed that she used a fertility pump and an experimental device that injected a hormone into her stomach to aid ovulation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n [Ann-Margret] is attempting to move on with her life by being busy with her career, but she still lives in the same Los Angeles home she bought with Smith.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even though Smith had three children, the actress also wanted to have her biological children. She said:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cThe point is, if I am meant to have a child, I will have one. Whatever my higher power feels is right for me, I will accept. I know this may sound simplistic, but I believe in the serenity prayer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For years, Ann-Margret prayed to God to give her the serenity to accept things she could not change, the courage to change the things she could, and the wisdom to know the difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n After trying unsuccessfully to conceive for years, the actress gave up on the hormone-inducing situation and settled on being a stepmother to Smith\u2019s kids. She noted that this was her favorite of all the roles she ever played.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The 82-year-old said she became a disciplinarian stepmother who taught her stepkids to be respectful just as her parents had trained her:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI met them when they were 3, 6, and 7, and now they\u2019re not. Two of them are doctors. Well, I don\u2019t want to get into that because it\u2019s very, very private.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Now in her 80s, Ann-Margret is a jovial woman who resumed her career after her husband died. She has been busy and recently finished recording a new album called \u201cBorn to Be Wild.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n She revealed that she hadn\u2019t done an album in 50 years, but she had so much fun creating her latest one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"Ann-Margret](\"https:\/\/cdn.amomama.com\/df4b3ab77f1b7f9d0c1823808a99164b20f7400da3b4fcf2f1bf382d8a8b1d96.jpg\")
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