"If you’re a spouse, if one of you has a broken wing, the other takes over,” Ann-Margret said explaining why she said no to everything when her husband Roger Smith struggled with his health.
Ann-Margret and her husband, Roger Smith shared a lovely 50-year love tale up to his passing. After 13 years of unsuccessful attempts at becoming a mom, she finally decided to become a stepmother to her husband's three children. The actress and singer Ann-Margret and her late husband Roger Smith were completely dedicated to one another. After getting married in 1967 and they remained happily married till Smith passed away on June 4, 2017, following a protracted battle with myasthenia gravis, per Closer Weekly.
Margret became his "amazing nurse" when his health problems prevented him from being able to move, pausing her career to care for him. “I kept saying no, no, no to everything because I was taking care of him. If you’re a spouse, if one of you has a broken wing, the other takes over,” she said. Talking about the first time she met him the iconic star said, “I knew I was going to marry him on the third date,” the actor told the outlet in an exclusive word about the love of her life.
A friend close to the couple stated, “They couldn’t stand to be apart from each other, being on film sets on opposite ends of the country. Roger stepping in as her manager was a way for them to always be together,” per the outlet. Talking about how Smith helped her with her career she told the entertainment outlet, “The critics had an image of me, and they wouldn’t accept any other. I was a cartoon character.” Her challenging roles in controversial 1970s movies like Tommy and Carnal Knowledge altered all that, earning her praise from critics and the attention of voters on awards shows.
But Margret confessed that her preferred position during those times, however, was that of stepmother to Roger's three children from his prior marriage. “I met them when they were 3, 6, and 7.” She’s still close to all of them today and says proudly, “Two of them are doctors.”
Smith had three kids, but the actress also desired to have her own biological children. According to UPI, Margret, who had tried to get pregnant for 13 years, admitted to using a fertility pump and an experimental gadget that pumped a hormone into her stomach to promote ovulation. She said, "The point is, if I am meant to have a child, I will have one. Whatever my higher power feels is right for me, I will accept. I know this may sound simplistic, but I believe in the serenity prayer."
For years, she put her career on hold in order to take care of Roger as he fought Parkinson's illness and myasthenia gravis. “She certainly mourned for Roger but, more than anything, she fondly recalled the life they made together. To her, a great love story doesn’t end with death. You carry their spirit with you,” a friend close to her said.
References:
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1985/10/16/Actress-Ann-Margret-said-in-a-report-Wednesday-that-she/
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/ann-margret-husband-death-
https://www.closerweekly.com/posts/inside-ann-margret-and-roger-smiths-50-year-love
Cover Image Source: Getty Images | Photo by: (L) Keystone/Hulton Archive; (R) Mike Coppola
