Esther Williams
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.
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Photos
Films (52)
Esther Williams: Hollywood's Mermaid
2024 · Self (archive footage)
The Fabulous Allan Carr
2017 · Self (archive footage)
Listen to Me Marlon
2015 · Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood Legenden
2004 · Self
Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof
2003 · Self
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
2002 · Self (archive footage)
The Original Mermaid
2002 · Herself (archive footage)
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
2000 · Self (archive footage)
Glorious Technicolor
1998 · Self
That's Entertainment! III
1994 · Self - Host
Stars and Stripes: Hollywood and World War II
1991 · Self
Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash
1990 · Self
Dance Crazy in Hollywood
1990 · Self - Actress (archive footage)
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987 · Self
Night of 100 Stars II
1985 · Self
That's Dancing!
1985 · From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
1974 · (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972 · Self (archive footage)
Magic Fountain
1963 · Hyacinth Tower
The Big Show
1961 · Hillary Allen
Andy Hardy Comes Home
1958 · Sheila Brooks (archive footage) (uncredited)
Raw Wind in Eden
1958 · Laura
The Unguarded Moment
1956 · Lois Conway
Jupiter's Darling
1955 · Amytis
Easy to Love
1953 · Julie Hallerton
Dangerous When Wet
1953 · Katy Higgins
Million Dollar Mermaid
1952 · Annette Kellerman
Skirts Ahoy!
1952 · Whitney Young
Callaway Went Thataway
1951 · Esther Williams (uncredited)
Texas Carnival
1951 · Debbie Telford
Pagan Love Song
1950 · Mimi Bennett
Duchess of Idaho
1950 · Christine Riverton Duncan
The Costume Designer
1950 · Self (archive footage)
Screen Actors
1950 · Self (uncredited)
Neptune's Daughter
1949 · Eve Barrett
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
1949 · K.C. Higgins
On an Island with You
1948 · Rosalind Rennolds
This Time for Keeps
1947 · Nora Cambaretti
Fiesta
1947 · Maria Morales
Till the Clouds Roll By
1946 · Esther Williams - Signing Autographs (uncredited)
Easy to Wed
1946 · Connie Allenbury
The Hoodlum Saint
1946 · Kay Lorrison
Ziegfeld Follies
1945 · Esther Williams (segment "A Water Ballet")
Parade of Aquatic Champions
1945 · Herself
Thrill of a Romance
1945 · Cynthia Glenn
Bathing Beauty
1944 · Caroline Brooks
A Guy Named Joe
1944 · Ellen Bright
Twenty Years After
1944 · (archive footage)
Andy Hardy's Double Life
1942 · Sheila Brooks
Inflation
1942 · Mrs. Smith
Personalities
1942 · Sheila Brooks (screen test footage) (uncredited)
Séries (19)
Parkinson
1998 · Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996 · Self
Private Screenings
1996 · Self
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992
Pebble Mill
1991 · Self
Burt Reynolds' Conversations with...
1991 · Self
The Big Party
1959 · Self
The Donna Reed Show
1958 · Molly Duncan
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · Self
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · Sarah Harmon
The Steve Allen Show
1956 · Self - Swimmer
MGM Parade
1955 · Self - Water Ballerina in 'Ziegfeld Follies' (archive footage)
The Jimmy Durante Show
1954 · Self
Reflets de Cannes
1954 · Self
The Oscars
1953 · Self
Omnibus
1952
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · Vicki
What's My Line?
1950 · Self
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · Self