Ann-Margret Reflects on Dynamic With Elvis Presley in ‘Viva Las Vegas’: ‘I Teased Him’

Ann-Margret beamed as the 25th Women’s Image Awards honored her as a living legend recently. “I had no idea when I was a kid that I’d be receiving all these awards,” Ann-Margret tells Closer. “I’m just blessed.”

Looking back over a seven-decade career that has included singing, dancing, acting, movies,

television and more, Ann-Margret, 82, feels gratitude and pride. “I had this thing about performing and being in front of an audience since I was 4,” says the star, who emigrated with her mother from Sweden in 1946.

Bye Bye Birdie made Ann-Margret a major star in 1963, but Viva Las Vegas, costarring Elvis Presley, made her a legend a year later. “I can’t believe it’s been 60 years,” she says. “Being with E.P., we laughed so hard! He teased the heck out of me, but I teased him right back! He wasn’t going to get away with that.”

Like Elvis, Ann-Margret’s live performances in Las Vegas became must-see events in the late 1960s and 1970s. “My favorite thing to do is perform live in front of an audience,” says Ann-Margret, who also sang and danced in two popular TV specials. “Those were fun times,” she says.

A Beautiful Life

Ann-Margret shares her longtime home in the Hollywood Hills with her dog, Bambi, and cat, Harley, who had been a gift from her late husband, actor and producer Roger Smith. “He brought him home for me 20 years ago. He had a bomber jacket on, and we open the jacket and there’s this teeny little baby. So he’s been with me all this time!”

The performer has a habit of keeping friends forever. Elvis, whom she briefly dated, remained a confidant until his 1977 death. “I hope and pray that E.P.’s up there somewhere having a good time,” she says.

He’s not the only co-star she’s stayed friendly with. She and Jack Nicholson, who starred in 1971’s Carnal Knowledge (which nabbed Ann-Margret an Oscar nomination), got in the habit of running into each other at Lakers games. “We would wave to one another,” she says.

Some of her core group of gal pals have been with her since the start of her career. “Once I have a friend, it’s a friend for life,” declares Ann-Margret, who adds that a “perfect day” is sitting somewhere beautiful sharing a meal and some laughs with her favorite people. “I’ve got some wonderful, incredible friends, and laughter is so important to me.”

Ann-Margret’s other favorite indulgences are shoes and sweets. “I am crazy for shoes. They take up an entire wall,” says the star, who tries to exert more self-control when it comes to cake. “I was told a long time ago that I should stay away from dairy products — like whipping cream. Most of the time I am a good girl, but I do love sweets.”

To counter this, she works out twice a week with a trainer and likes to recruit friends for long outdoor walks. “Sometimes there will be 25 of us storming through the canyons,” she says.

Her life today is very peaceful, and Ann-Margret admits she doesn’t spend a lot of time thinking about the past. “I know this is hard to believe, but I only have seen my movies one time and that is it,” says the star, who adds that she doesn’t feel her age. “Today I feel 65, but I won’t know until I wake up how I will feel tomorrow.”