Ann-Margret Makes Rare Public Appearance — and Reveals the Sexy Secret Behind Her Famous Dance Moves
Ann-Margret made a rare public appearance on Saturday, June 28, gracing the Lead with Love 6 telethon at the KTLA 5 studios in Los Angeles with her presence. And in her first on-air statement during the telethon, she revealed the source of her famous killer dance moves — her derrière!
Welcoming the Swedish-American screen star to the stage, host Eric McCormack recounted that her “’60s dance moves captivated the world” and that she was dubbed “the female Elvis.”
Then the Will & Grace star asked, “Where did those incredible dance moves come from? Sweden? Does everyone dance like that?”
Ann-Margret laughed and replied, “Uh, my heart and my seat,” cracking a smile as she gesticulated to her bottom.
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Sure enough, the Bye Bye Birdie star did draw comparisons to Elvis Presley early in her career as she covered his song “Heartbreak Hotel” and starred with the King of Rock and Roll himself in the 1964 film Viva Las Vegas.
“He was a great man,” Ann-Margret told the Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2021. “I had never seen him perform before I did the movie. Hard to believe. We just found out we were very much alike. We were both very shy, but then you become this other person when you are performing.”
She also told the newspaper she and Presley’s relationship went from platonic to romantic. “We were friends for a long time, E.P. and I,” she said. “We met on the movie. We had several things in common, including a love for Las Vegas. We dated, and we just had a great time together.”
She wrote at length about her year-long romance and longer friendship with Presley in her 1994 memoir, Ann-Margret: My Story.
“I’m not really sure why I was so calm about meeting The King,” she wrote, per The Washington Post. “After all, this was Elvis, a man who had captured the heart of almost every woman in America. Little did I know he would soon capture mine.”
Ann-Margret bonded with Presley over the “fiery pent-up passion” music unleashed in the both of them. “When Elvis thrust his pelvis, mine slammed forward, too,” she said. “It was like discovering a long-lost relative, a soul mate. … We talked about marriage. We were so alike, so compatible.”
In fact, the two remained friends after their break-up and after she married 77 Sunset Strip actor Roger Smith, and she wrote in her memoir that Smith was never jealous of Presley: “Like everybody else, Roger put Elvis in a category all his own.”
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