Discovered by George Burns, romanced by Elvis Presley, twice nominated for an Academy Award, Ann-Margret has been in the entertainment business for more than fifty years. Her greatest successes came in the '60s and '70s, but due to my age I'll always think of her first and foremost as Ariel from GRUMPY OLD MEN and GRUMPIER OLD MEN.
Now 75, Ann-Margret is still going strong and just lined up her next acting project, signing on to play a part in David E. Kelley's TV series adaptation of the Stephen King novel Mr. Mercedes.
Mr. Mercedes centers on a demented killer who taunts a retired police detective with a series of lurid letters and emails, forcing the ex-cop to undertake a private, and potentially felonious, crusade to bring the killer to justice before he can strike again.
Brendan Gleeson will star as retired detective Bill Hodges, with Harry Treadaway as deranged ice cream truck driver Brady Hartsfield. Kelly Lynch is on board to play Brady's "complicated mother" Deborah.
Ann-Margret joins them as Hodges' next door neighbor Ida Silver. "Ida doesn't miss much and is a real piece of work: prickly, outspoken, self-serving, intimidating and vulnerable." Sounds like this will be a fun role for her.
Mr. Mercedes is being produced by Sonar Entertainment. The pilot episode is being directed by Lost regular (and CHILD'S PLAY 3 director) Jack Bender, who will also executive produce the series with showrunner Kelley and Marty Bowen and Wyck Godfrey of Temple Hill Entertainment.
The series is expected to debut on DirecTV and AT&T U-verse in 2018.
Ann-Margret in THE SWINGER (1966)