Perhaps Ann-Margret’s role as Elvis Presley’s love interest in the 1964 movie Viva Las Vegas is what many remember her for best. But shortly after, she took a “devastating” fall that required extensive facial surgery.

Just a few years after capturing audiences in 1964’s Viva Las Vegas as Rusty Martin opposite Elvis Presley, Swedish-American actress Ann-Margret had a catastrophic decline. Showbiz CheatSheet reports that the actress suffered a “devastating facial injury in 1972 when Ann-Margret fell 22 feet during a performance at a Lake Tahoe casino.”

On September 14, 1972, Ann Margret underwent surgery for face fractures, according to the New York Times.

According to the story, Ann-Margret underwent facial surgery today at the U.C.L.A. Medical Center after falling from a stage platform and suffering serious injuries.

“The surgery took about three hours. Representatives from the hospital said they would not comment on the 31-year-old actress and dancer until later.

Before her performance at a casino in Lake Tahoe on Sunday, Ann-Margret fell from a 22-foot platform, breaking her arm and suffering many facial fractures.

There were also claims made about the actress that the incident had broken her kneecap, but these were later denied.

Ann-Margret stated in a 1983 interview that her husband Roger Smith insisted on flying her to Los Angeles for oral surgery in order to repair the significant damage and maintain her famed beauty.

The actress wrote in her autobiography Ann-Margret: My Story, which was published in 1994, that Elvis had supported her throughout this time.

Rumors have it that the two were dating while Viva Las Vegas was being filmed.

She said that he had already brought her flowers despite the fact that they had broken up a few years before and had moved on.

When they were in Las Vegas, he requested to go see her in her suite one evening.

Ann-Margret said, “He was quite interested in my recovery and the accident.

Elvis frequently said things like, “It was so simple for us to slide into the closeness we’d always enjoyed,” which made it clear that he really missed having me in his life.

Ann-Margret stated that she received “thousands of letters” when she was recovering in an interview with Roger Ebert.

Any kind of plastic or cosmetic reconstructive surgery, according to the NHS, “has an associated risk” because facial surgery is a serious process.

The size of the afflicted area, the surgeon’s expertise, and the patient’s overall condition all have an impact on the risk level, according to the NHS.

“While specific risks are present during some procedures, general worries include discomfort and pain.”