1921-08-08 ( 103 years old ) in Inglewood, California, USA
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.
Movies
Esther Williams: Hollywood's Mermaid
2024-08-11
Hollywood Legenden
2004-01-01
Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof
2003-03-28
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
2002-09-24
The Original Mermaid
2002-02-20
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
2000-09-01
Glorious Technicolor
1998-12-07
That's Entertainment! III
1994-07-01
Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash
1990-11-30
Dance Crazy in Hollywood
1990-01-01
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987-05-18
Night of 100 Stars II
1985-03-10
That's Dancing!
1985-01-18
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976-05-16
That's Entertainment!
1974-06-21
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972-01-10
Magic Fountain
1963-02-04
The Big Show
1961-05-10
Andy Hardy Comes Home
1958-12-22
Raw Wind in Eden
1958-09-19
The Unguarded Moment
1956-12-27
Jupiter's Darling
1955-02-18
Easy to Love
1953-11-26
Dangerous When Wet
1953-06-18
Million Dollar Mermaid
1952-12-04
Skirts Ahoy!
1952-05-28
Callaway Went Thataway
1951-11-15
Texas Carnival
1951-10-05
Pagan Love Song
1950-12-26
Duchess of Idaho
1950-07-14
The Costume Designer
1950-07-13
Screen Actors
1950-05-13
Neptune's Daughter
1949-06-10
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
1949-03-09
On an Island with You
1948-05-03
This Time for Keeps
1947-10-17
Fiesta
1947-06-12
Till the Clouds Roll By
1946-12-05
Easy to Wed
1946-07-25
The Hoodlum Saint
1946-04-04
Ziegfeld Follies
1945-08-26
Parade of Aquatic Champions
1945-07-22
Thrill of a Romance
1945-05-23
Bathing Beauty
1944-06-27
Twenty Years After
1944-01-01
A Guy Named Joe
1943-12-24
Andy Hardy's Double Life
1942-12-01
Inflation
1942-01-01
Personalities
1942-01-01
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