Actress Ann-Margret autographed a tattered photo presented to her at a book signing by an ex-G.I. and thanked him for serving his country.
Ann-Margret (born Ann-Margret Olsson in 1941) caught the entertainment industry's eye while still a teen. Her vivacious spirit and startling good looks helped propel her into a successful career as an actress, singer, and dancer, but she was initially saddled with a sex kitten image that limited her to siren roles. With the help of her husband (Roger Smithof television's 77 Sunset Strip), she began to shake free of that perception during her thirties; and she has since been twice nominated for Academy Awards (for Carnal Knowledge in 1971 and Tommy in 1975) and has been the recipient of numerous Emmys.The book signing story presented above adheres to the facts of Ann-Margret's life, and according to Bruce Thompson, webmaster of Ann-Margret.com (the star's offical web site), it is indeed true. Ann-Margret entertained American servicemen in Vietnam as part of Bob Hope's traveling troupe in the 1960s, and she participated in a number of signings at book stores when her autobiography, Ann-Margret: My Story, was published in 1994. (My Story made the New York Times's best-seller list scant days after its release.)Ann-Margret is still remembered fondly by many of those soldiers who served in Vietnam and who were lucky enough to be in the audience for one of her shows. In press interviews she has often spoken about former G.I.s who have stepped forward to thank her for taking the time to do her part back then, so it's hardly a stretch to think she would be thanking them in return.In April 2015 a reader wrote to us to report his recent encounter with the star, who still runs true to form in her love for our veterans after all these years:I actually had the pleasure of meeting her at an autograph signing at Chiller Theatre in Parsippany, NJ this past weekend. With the limited time I was permitted with her, I brought up the article on Snopes and thanked her for always supporting our veterans. She told me she hadn't known about it being on Snopes, but verified that the story was true and said that she was so overwhelmed with emotion. She told me she had just been at a VA hospital the previous week and said she always tries to see '[her] boys' whenever she can. At 74 years old (her birthday was yesterday, actually!) she's one of the classiest celebrities I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. She spent as much time as she could talking to each person that came up, and said she was having the time of her life being able to meet such wonderful people. A true sweetheart, and still loves her vets every bit as much to this day. I told her, 'God bless you for what you do for our soldiers.' She replied, 'And God bless you for recognizing how important they are.' And that's how she signed my photo, 'God Bless'. Thanks for sharing the original story, it certainly gave me a unique experience in meeting Ann-Margret.Barbara 'any given Sunday' Mikkelson
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