The Top Things You Never Knew About Bye Bye Birdie

How Ann-Margret Was Cast For The Role

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Ann-Marget told The New York Post in 2013, “[Director] George Sidney had seen me, unbeknownst to me, when I was at a club… Mr. Sidney wanted to see me to talk about ‘Bye Bye Birdie.’ I knew what the part was like, but didn’t have the clothes I thought [the character would] be wearing, so I had a heck of a time looking in my closet…” Co-stars Dick Van Dyke and Maureen Stapleton would claim that Ann-Margret and Sidney were romantic behind the scenes, but Ann would maintain in her memoir that nothing of the sort had happened.

She Wasn’t Awarded For The Role, Though

For her iconic role as Kim McAfee in Bye Bye Birdie, Ann-Margret was nominated in 1963 for a Golden Globe for Best Motion Picture Actress in a Musical or Comedy, but lost that year to Shirley MacLaine’s portrayal of Irma la Douce. But that wouldn’t be Ann-Margret’s only chance at an award. She would win Golden Globes later on in her career for Carnal Knowledge (1972), Tommy (1975), Who Will Love My Children? (1984), and A Streetcar Named Desire (1985). Back in 1962, she also won a Golden Globe for Most Promising Female Newcomer, which just goes to show that patience in your career can take you pretty far.