When I was 14, my best friend and I were sent to Florida for spring break to stay with my friends dad and his girlfriend in Florida. One night I left them in their little cottage in Surfside (probably $75 a month in 1972,worth half a million now even in today's real estate market) and took the bus to the Fountainbleu Hotel, where I bought a single ticket for Ann-Margaret's nightclub act, and had an incredible evening of classic Vegas glamour and multiple rum-and-cokes. (I already had cool 70's sideburns, and no one ever asked for an ID.) She was and is a goddess, and I look forward to seeing these specials again.

Oh, and one of the funniest things ever created by a comic genius: Mario Cantone's imitation of Ann-Margaret dancing. Four seconds long - and he nails it!

Viva Ann-Margaret!

PS: Ann-Margret is also in a movie coming out soon: "Loss of a Teardrop Diamond," based on a screenplay by Tennessee Williams!

She vamps like no one! What a star! And she proved to be a real actress in "Carnal Knowledge" (and to a lesser extent in "Tommy"--her Oscar nomination).

Love that picture of "Ann-Margrock" from The Flintstones.

Ann-Margret had some beautifully acted moments in "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" tour, where she made the audience come to her soooooo skillfully. And she was well-matched with Gary Sandy.

Because she was an icon of my youth, I had written a huge spread on her for The Times-Picayune, which got me an invite backstage, where A-M told my (younger) better half, "You have such beautiful hair!"

To which I later said, "Do you understand what a compliment that was? Do you KNOW how important hair is to Ann-Margret?"

Besides "Birdie," my favorite A-M movie is "The Cincinnati Kid," which has a great moment when Melba (A-M) is trimming picture puzzle pieces with scissors so that they'll fit and Karl Malden tells her, "Melba, that piece doesn't go there!"

A-M slams her first down on the puzzle and crows, "It does now!"

Ann has been so great in so many things - and in so many ways. She was early to just have a first name only(even though maybe hyphenated). Loved her as Blanche in Street Car Named Desire with Treat Williams and also that movie where she and Julie Andrews are moms of people with AIDS. As has happened to some others, she was somewhat squandered by Hollywood because they couldn't see beyond her sex appeal.

Loved her in that TV movie where she was dying and had to diby up her children.

Didn't love her so much in "Streetcar Named Desire." It's interesting she's doing another Tennessee Williams piece. I never heard of that one!

George Burns had a great eye and ear when he found her in Vegas as a teenager.

I saw Ann perform in Vegas two years ago and she was nothing short of great. She sang, danced, told great stories and flashed those killer legs.I think she was 64 at the time. She belongs in the same sentence as Cher and Bette.

I love her. When Mad Men had a sub-plot of recreating her moment of singing to the camera in Bye-Bye Birdie it was one of the highlights of my TV season. Especially how much Sal was into it in having the job to recreate it.

A-M is the best! It's so cool that her TV specials will finally see the light of day on DVD's!

I always loved A-M,and became a HUGE fan after seeing her perform live here in Miami at the Fontainebleau in 1976; I've since followed every move in her career.

I was lucky to eventually meet her and she is even more beautiful (inside & out) in person.

She continues to amaze and enchant!

I think there is a bigger issue being overlooked here, which is does anybody else remember the Gruesomes from the Flintstones? They were a make believe family that had cameos like Ann Margaret but as a child I found them really creepy...pun intended.

Now that I watch them, I think they were supposed to be Jewish...which doesn't make them any less scary. It might in fact amplify the creepiness. It's just kind of one of those pop culture things that haven't burped back up yet...like Gold-AR and Silv_Ar....remember them?

Sincerely,
Cookie Cutter

Love those old variety specials! They should release them all on DVD. I remember one that starred Liza and Goldie---what a show!

Back in the 90s I came up with a killer idea for a Valley of the Dolls sequel, which would have all new characters except for Neely, now an over-the-hill celeb making the rounds of glitzy Vegas shows, and segueing perfectly into a Helen Lawson-type character. Ann-Margaret would have been PERFECT. Sadly, it was not to be.