TCM Star of the Day: Ann-Margret

The Star of the Day tomorrow on Turner Classic Movies is Ann-Margret. Her most iconic roles showcased her fiery hair, creamy skin, flashing turquoise eyes, gorgeous figure, seductive purr, and the unmatched energy and flair of her dancing. She was still a student at Northwestern when George Burns discovered her and introduced her to his friend Jack Benny. One of her first television appearances was on Benny’s show. She was not yet glamorous, but she could already command the audience.

In this screen test, she took an old standard and made it sizzle.

The greatest shade of pink in the history of film is the outfit she wears in her signature musical number in “Bye Bye Birdie.” The conventional wisdom that redheads shouldn’t wear pink was irrevocably shattered.

The Broadway musical “Bye Bye Birdie” centered on the relationship of the songwriter (Dick Van Dyke, repeating his Tony-award winning role) and his long-suffering girlfriend. But Ann-Margret was so sensational that the movie was reoriented to focus on her role as the starstruck teenager.

Some of the other cast members who had appeared in the stage show were not happy. In the musical number “How Lovely to be a Woman,” the humor is supposed to come from the contrast between the lyrics about being old enough to be “the one they’re whistling at” as she changes from her school clothes into a ratty oversized sweater, jeans, and knee socks. But the real contrast is between her pretending to be a teenage slob when she is already a ravishing woman with endless female allure. Paul Lynde, who played her father, said, “They should have retitled it ‘Hello, Ann-Margret!’ They cut several of my and the other actors’ best scenes and shot new ones for her so she could do her teenage-sex-bombshell act.” Indeed, the movie opens with Ann-Margret against a black screen, almost exploding out of the film. She became an immediate superstar.

Her other signature role was opposite the only male musical performer who could match her electricity: Elvis Presley, in “Viva Las Vegas.”

On a television variety special, she appeared with the only female musical performer who could keep up with her: Tina Turner.

By this time, she was a superstar who could spoof her own image by appearing in “The Flintstones” as “Ann Margrock,” singing a lullabye.

She was a gifted dramatic actress, best shown in “Carnal Knowledge.” She was also wonderful in the middle age love story “Twice in a Lifetime,” a warm and heartfelt performance opposite Gene Hackman, and she rose above the soapy story as chorus girl who married into a wealthy family in “The Two Mrs. Grenvilles.” She earned a Golden Globe for a heartbreaking role as a dying mother who had to find homes for her children in “Who Will Love My Children?” Twelve of her films will be shown on TCM tomorrow, including “Bye Bye Birdie,” “Carnal Knowledge,” and “Tommy.” The next time they salute her there will be another film to add to the list — she has just announced she will be joining the cast of the remake of “Going in Style,” co-starring with Alan Arkin and Morgan Freeman.

Thanks to Kristen Lopez for including me in the Summer Under the Stars blogathon!