EW
Esther Williams
Actor, Writer
Died June 6, 2013 (91 years)
Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and MGM movie star.
Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, Williams 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. There, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic swimmer and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller.
It was at the Aquacade that Williams caught the attention of MGM scouts. After appearing in several small roles, 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 synchronized swimming and diving. From 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film listed 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 would go on to become her nickname while at MGM.
Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.
Following her retirement from film in the 1960s, Williams became a businesswoman, lending her name to a line of swimming pools and retro swimwear, instructional swimming videos for children, and serving as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
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Filmography
| 2000 | Hollywood Musicals of the 40's · as (archive footage) |
| 1985 | That's Dancing! · as Unknown |
| 1976 | That's Entertainment, Part II · as (archive footage) |
| 1974 | That's Entertainment! · as (archive footage) |
| 1961 | The Mike Douglas Show (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1958 | Andy Hardy Comes Home · as Sheila Brooks (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 1958 | The Donna Reed Show (TV Series) · as Unknown |
| 1956 | Zane Grey Theater (TV Series) · as Sarah Harmon |
| 1955 | The Tender Trap · as Actress in 'Easy to Love' - Movie on TV |
| 1955 | Jupiter's Darling · as Amytis |
| 1953 | Dangerous When Wet · as Katie Higgins |
| 1952 | Million Dollar Mermaid · as Annette Kellerman |
| 1952 | Skirts Ahoy! · as Whitney Young |
| 1951 | Texas Carnival · as Debbie Telford |
| 1950 | Pagan Love Song · as Mimi Bennett |
| 1950 | The Lux Video Theatre (TV Series) · as Vicki |
| 1949 | Take Me Out to the Ball Game · as K.C. Higgins |
| 1949 | Neptune's Daughter · as Eve Barrett |
| 1948 | On an Island with You · as Rosalind Rennolds |
| 1947 | Fiesta · as Maria Morales |
| 1946 | Easy to Wed · as Connie Allenbury |
| 1945 | Ziegfeld Follies · as Esther Williams (segment A Water Ballet) |
| 1945 | Thrill of a Romance · as Cynthia Glenn |
| 1944 | Bathing Beauty · as Caroline Brooks |
| 1943 | A Guy Named Joe · as Ellen Bright |
| 1942 | Andy Hardy's Double Life · as Sheila Brooks |