Esther Williams

Biography

Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco. While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold-medal winner and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller. Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, and alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving. Every year from 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film among the 20 highest-grossing films of the year. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which went on to become her nickname while she was at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed network television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida. Williams was also a successful businesswoman. Before retiring from acting, she invested in a "service station, a metal products plant, a manufacturer of bathing suits, various properties and a successful restaurant chain known as Trails." She lent her name to a line of swimming pools, retro swimwear, and instructional swimming videos for children, and served as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles. Description above from the Wikipedia article Esther Williams, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.

Known For

K.C. Higgins

Take Me Out to the Ball Game

Self

Hollywood Legenden

Ellen Bright

A Guy Named Joe

Julie Hallerton

Easy to Love

Debbie Telford

Texas Carnival

Sheila Brooks

Andy Hardy's Double Life

Annette Kellerman

Million Dollar Mermaid

Katy Higgins

Dangerous When Wet

Eve Barrett

Neptune's Daughter

Rosalind Rennolds

On an Island with You

Cynthia Glenn

Thrill of a Romance

Caroline Brooks

Bathing Beauty

Connie Allenbury

Easy to Wed

Maria Morales

Fiesta

Nora Cambaretti

This Time for Keeps

Esther Williams - Signing Autographs (uncredited)

Till the Clouds Roll By

Mimi Bennett

Pagan Love Song

Kay Lorrison

The Hoodlum Saint

Lois Conway

The Unguarded Moment

Self - Co-Host / Narrator

That's Entertainment! III

Christine Riverton Duncan

Duchess of Idaho

Self (archive footage)

Hollywood: The Dream Factory

Amytis

Jupiter's Darling

Laura

Raw Wind in Eden

Whitney Young

Skirts Ahoy!

Self

Glorious Technicolor

Hillary Allen

The Big Show

Mrs. Smith

Inflation

Self - Actress (archive footage)

Dance Crazy in Hollywood

(archive footage)

That's Entertainment!

Esther Williams (uncredited)

Callaway Went Thataway

Hyacinth Tower

La fuente mágica

Self

Night of 100 Stars II

Self (archive footage)

Esther Williams : La Sirène d'Hollywood

Self (archive footage)

Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer

Esther Williams (segment "A Water Ballet")

Ziegfeld Follies

Self (archive footage)

Hollywood Musicals of the 40's

Self

Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash

(archive footage)

That's Entertainment, Part II

(archive footage)

Twenty Years After

Self (archive footage)

The Costume Designer

From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)

That's Dancing!

Herself

Parade of Aquatic Champions

Herself (archive footage)

The Original Mermaid

Sheila Brooks (screen test footage) (uncredited)

Personalities

Self (uncredited)

Screen Actors

Self

Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof

Sheila Brooks (archive footage) (uncredited)

Andy Hardy Comes Home

Self

Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood

Self

Stars and Stripes: Hollywood and World War II