Ann-Margret Pays Tribute to Her Late Husband With Throwback Post: ‘Love of My Life’

Roger Smith with sun glasses and Ann-Margret in the back of a limo; circa 1970; New York. — Art Zelin/Getty Images

In the golden age of Hollywood, few love stories managed to endure the spotlight — but Ann-Margret and her late husband Roger Smith beat the odds. The pair were married for 50 years, until his death in 2017. On the anniversary of his passing, Ann-Margret shared a lovely throwback photo on Instagram, writing, “Honoring the LOVE OF MY LIFE, Roger LaVerne Smith, whom we all loved and adored, and lost this gentleman on June 4, 2017!”

Ann-Margret first met Smith in the early ’60s, long before she became a household name dancing beside Elvis Presley — the actress and singer was getting her start with her first film, Pocketful of Miracles. At the time, Smith was a star on 77 Sunset Strip, tall and charming, with an easy confidence that made women swoon. But Ann-Margret wasn’t like the others. “Every other woman I met was falling all over me,” Smith told New York magazine in 1976, according to Country Living. “But this innocent, fresh-faced beauty only spoke to me when I spoke to her and the rest of the time ignored me. I was impressed.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Ann-Margret (@officialannmargret)

It would be five more years before their paths crossed again. When Smith invited her to see him perform at a San Francisco nightclub, it kicked off three whirlwind dates that would change her life. “The man that I married is the man I knew I was going to marry on the third date,” she told The New York Times in 1994.

Their romance didn’t come without complications, however. Smith was separated but not yet divorced, and he had three children from his previous marriage. Ann-Margret’s parents weren’t thrilled. Still, two years later, on May 8, 1967, the couple said their vows in a smoky little room at the Riviera Hotel in Las Vegas. “This is not the way I envisioned my wedding,” she told People. “I think everyone thought I was pregnant because I was crying through the whole thing. But we did it.”

Though the couple never had children together, their home was still filled with love and laughter. Ann-Margret once shared that what made it all work was simple. She said, “We both want it to work. We get into weird situations. If you can’t laugh at yourself, you are in trouble. We laugh before everyone else does.”