Esther Williams
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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
Credits
Bathing Beauty (1944)
as Caroline Brooks
Glorious Technicolor (1998)
as Self
Fiesta (1947)
as Maria Morales
That's Entertainment! III (1994)
as Self - Host
That's Entertainment! (1974)
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Neptune's Daughter (1949)
as Eve Barrett
Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
as Annette Kellerman
That's Dancing! (1985)
as From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)
Till the Clouds Roll By (1946)
as Esther Williams - Signing Autographs (uncredited)
Easy to Love (1953)
as Julie Hallerton
Jupiter's Darling (1955)
as Amytis
Magic Fountain (1963)
as Hyacinth Tower
The Costume Designer (1950)
as Self (archive footage)
A Guy Named Joe (1944)
as Ellen Bright
Twenty Years After (1944)
as (archive footage)
Listen to Me Marlon (2015)
as Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
as K.C. Higgins
Ziegfeld Follies (1945)
as Esther Williams (segment "A Water Ballet")
On an Island with You (1948)
as Rosalind Rennolds
That's Entertainment, Part II (1976)
as (archive footage)
Night of 100 Stars II (1985)
as Self
The Fabulous Allan Carr (2017)
as Self (archive footage)
Dance Crazy in Hollywood (1990)
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood (1987)
as Self
Thrill of a Romance (1945)
as Cynthia Glenn
Dangerous When Wet (1953)
as Katy Higgins
This Time for Keeps (1947)
as Nora Cambaretti
Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)
as Self (archive footage)
Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)
as Sheila Brooks
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer (2002)
as Self (archive footage)
The Unguarded Moment (1956)
as Lois Conway
Raw Wind in Eden (1958)
as Laura
Texas Carnival (1951)
as Debbie Telford
Callaway Went Thataway (1951)
as Esther Williams (uncredited)
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's (2000)
as Self (archive footage)
The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
as Kay Lorrison
Skirts Ahoy! (1952)
as Whitney Young
Easy to Wed (1946)
as Connie Allenbury
Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash (1990)
as Self
Parade of Aquatic Champions (1945)
as Herself
Duchess of Idaho (1950)
as Christine Riverton Duncan
The Big Show (1961)
as Hillary Allen
Andy Hardy Comes Home (1958)
as Sheila Brooks (archive footage) (uncredited)
Pagan Love Song (1950)
as Mimi Bennett
Screen Actors (1950)
as Self (uncredited)
Stars and Stripes: Hollywood and World War II (1991)
as Self
Esther Williams: Hollywood's Mermaid (2024)
as Self (archive footage)
Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof (2003)
as Self
Personalities (1942)
as Sheila Brooks (screen test footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Legenden (2004)
as Self
The Original Mermaid (2002)
as Herself (archive footage)
Inflation (1942)
as Mrs. Smith