Esther Williams
Known For
Acting
Born
1921-08-08 in Inglewood, California, USA
Died
2013-06-06
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.
Most Known For
What's My Line?
as Self - Mystery Guest
What's My Line?
as Self
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
as Sarah Harmon
The Oscars
as Self
Parkinson
as Self
The Donna Reed Show
as Molly Duncan
The Steve Allen Show
as Self - Swimmer
The Ed Sullivan Show
as Self
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
as Self
Pebble Mill
as Self
Omnibus
MGM Parade
as Self - Water Ballerina in 'Ziegfeld Follies' (archive footage)
Lux Video Theatre
as Vicki
Fiesta
as Maria Morales
Reflets de Cannes
as Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
as Self
The Jimmy Durante Show
as Self
The Big Party
as Self
Bathing Beauty
as Caroline Brooks
Glorious Technicolor
as Self