April 28 ~  A Natural Progression Tiger & The Pussycat

"Age is such a natural progression you shouldnt fight it." ~ Ann-Margret

Viva Las Vegasr

Still as sexy as ever, ageless entertainer Ann-Margret Olsson (1941-) was born on this day in Stockholm, Sweden and emigrated to Chicago with her family after World War II.

I was raised very well," she said in a 2006 AARP interview. "There was love all around me, and discipline...If someone said they were going to do something, they did it."

From the time she was a youngster, the red-haired beauty loved to dance and sing with passionate abandon. In 1960, while performing in Las Vegas, she was discovered by comic George Burns.

Three years later, the sex kitten dazzled film goers with her singing and dancing in the film adaptation of the play Bye Bye Birdie and held her own with co-star Elvis Presley in Viva Las Vegas. Her Oscar-nominated roles in Carnal Knowledge (w/ Jack Nicholson, 1971) and Tommy (w/Tina Turner, 1975) were unforgettable.

"I'm exhausted when I look back on all the stuff I've done," she reflected in an interview with USA Today.

A survivor with inspirational determination, she nearly died in 1972 when she fell 22 feet in a freak accident while performing in Lake Tahoe. She landed on her beautiful face. The gutsy performer fought back through tedious reconstructive surgeries and convalescence.

Within a year she was back on stage. "I really believed I was spared by God in 1972 because I had so much to do," she said.

In 2001, the Swedish wonder made her theatrical debut starring in the a coast to coast, multi-million dollar production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. She wowed the critics... again.

In 2006, she celebrated her 39th wedding anniversary with actor Roger Smith, known for his hit series 77 Sunset Strip. The actress is currently the national chairperson for the Myasthenia Gravis Division of the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Smith was diagnosed with the disease in 1980.

Ann-Margret-- she's a beaut alright, at any age.

You are beautiful at every age.