Seraphic Secret

Robert J. Avrech: Emmy Award winning screenwriter. Movie fanatic. Helplessly and hopelessly in love with my wife since age nine.

Roger Smith

Friday Photos: True Hollywood Confessions

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“Suddenly, the platform tipped, wobbled, bounced, and flipped upside down. All I remember is the start of the fall and seeing the floor coming toward me. Whatever else I know of the incident is what people have told me. Unconscious, I was sprawled out under the fabric of my yellow chiffon dress, lying face down, crumpled and broken. A pool of blood formed under my head and flowed onto the stage.” —Ann-Margret, My Story, 1994. On September 10th, 1972 while performing in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Ann-Margret plummeted 22 feet from a raised platform to the stage below, breaking her left arm and completely shattering the left side of her face (her cheek, jaw, and brow bones were in little tiny pieces). Her devoted husband Roger Smith stole an airplane in Los Angles, flew to Lake Tahoe, and transported an unconscious Ann back to L.A. where she was treated by doctors. After extensive reconstructive surgery which required fusing the bones on the left side of her face back together and wiring her jaw shut, Ann posed for this photo in her bedroom reading the get well wishes she received from friends and fans. Through sheer force of will, Ann returned to the stage ten weeks later. Her beloved father was dying of cancer, and she wanted him to know she was okay.
“Suddenly, the platform tipped, wobbled, bounced, and flipped upside down. All I remember is the start of the fall and seeing the floor coming toward me. Whatever else I know of the incident is what people have told me. Unconscious, I was sprawled out under the fabric of my yellow chiffon dress, lying face down, crumpled and broken. A pool of blood formed under my head and flowed onto the stage.” —Ann-Margret, My Story, 1994.
On September 10th, 1972 while performing in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, Ann-Margret fell 22 feet from a raised platform to the stage below. She broke her left arm and shattered the left side of her face. Her cheek, jaw, and brow bones were fractured into little pieces. Her husband, Roger Smith, flew from Los Angeles to Lake Tahoe, and transported an unconscious Ann back to Los Angles. After extensive reconstructive surgery which required fusing the bones on the left side of her face and wiring her jaw shut, Ann posed for this photo in her bedroom reading the mail she received from friends and fans. A true professional, Ann-Margret returned to the stage ten weeks later.

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