Screen Star, Las Vegas Casino Headliner Ann-Margret Honored at UNLV

Ann-Margret helped popularize Las Vegas in her starring role with Elvis Presley in the 1964 movie Viva Las Vegas. Now the city is repaying the honor. The Swedish screen star is being inducted into the UNLV College of Fine Arts Hall of Fame.

In Viva Las Vegas, Ann-Margret plays swimming instructor Rusty Martin. Presley portrays singing race-car driver Lucky Jackson, in town for the first Las Vegas Grand Prix. The romantic musical is set in Las Vegas casinos and other sites in the area. 

The movie’s theme song, also titled Viva Las Vegas, still is closely associated with the city in musical performances and at public events.

Nancy Uscher, dean of the UNLV College of Fine Arts, praised Ann-Margret for her impact on Las Vegas.

She is an incredibly talented artist whose work has illuminated the culture of Las Vegas,” Uscher said in a statement.

Ann-Margret’s Hall of Fame induction is set for April 13 on campus at the Valerie Pida Plaza, according to the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

Ann-Margret began in show business as a singer and dancer at the Dunes hotel-casino on the Las Vegas Strip, according to the Turner Classic Movies website. 

Comedian George Burns discovered her at the Dunes and hired to her perform in his holiday show at the Sahara Hotel and Casino on the Strip. Her showroom performances in Las Vegas led to a recording contract and movie roles, according to TCM.

The Dunes has since been demolished and replaced by the Bellagio Hotel and Casino. The Sahara is still in operation.

Throughout the years, Ann-Margret was a headline performer at Caesars Palace and other resorts in Southern Nevada.