Esther Williams
Encyclopedia
Esther Jane Williams is a retired 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.
Since her retirement from film in the 1960s, Williams has become 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
. As of 2011 Williams lives with her fourth husband, Edward Bell, in Beverly Hills.
, Williams was the fifth and youngest child of Louis Stanton Williams (January 19, 1886 – June 10, 1968) and Bula Myrtle, née Gilpin (October 8, 1885 – 1975). Louis Williams was a sign painter and Bula Williams was a psychologist. The two lived on neighboring farms in Kansas and carried on a nine year courtship until June 1, 1908, when they eloped and set off for California. However, they ran out of money in Salt Lake City, Utah
, and settled there. Williams's brother, Stanton (September 4, 1912 – March 3, 1929) was discovered by actress Marjorie Rambeau
, which led to the family (including sisters Maurine and June and brother David) moving to the Los Angeles area to be near the studios. Louis Williams purchased a small piece of land in southwest area of town, and had a small house built there. Esther was born in the living room, which was also where the family slept until Louis Williams was able to add bedrooms. In 1929, Stanton Williams died after his colon burst.
In 1935, Bula Williams invited 16-year-old Buddy McClure to live with her family. McClure had recently lost his mother and Mrs Williams was still grieving over the death of her son. Esther recounted in her autobiography that one night, when the rest of the family was visiting relatives in Alhambra
, McClure raped her. She was terrified to tell anyone about the incident and waited two years before finally revealing the truth to her parents. They seemed unsure about her story, claiming McClure was "sensitive" and were sympathetic towards him when he admitted his guilt. After Williams stood up to him and banished him from her home, McClure joined the Coast Guard, and Williams never saw him again.
and to the local pool.
She took a job counting towels at the pool to pay the five cent entry fee, and while there, had swimming lessons from the male lifeguards. From them, she learned the 'male only' swimming strokes, including the butterfly breaststroke
, with which she would later break records.
Her medley team set the record for the 300-yard relay at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1939, and was also National AAU champion in the 100 meter freestyle, with a record-breaking time of 1 minute 0.09 seconds. By age 16, Williams had won three U.S. National championships in breaststroke and freestyle swimming. Williams planned to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics
but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II.
Williams graduated from Washington Preparatory High School
in 1939, where she served as class Vice President, and later President. However, Williams never trained in swimming while there.
During her senior year of high school, Williams received a D in her algebra
course, preventing her from getting a scholarship from the University of Southern California
. She enrolled in Los Angeles City College
to retake the course. In 1939, Williams expressed interest in pursuing a degree in physical education in order to teach it one day. To earn money to pay tuition, Williams took a job as a stock girl at I. Magnin
department store, where she also modelled clothing for customers and appeared in newspaper advertisements.
While Williams was working at I. Magnin, she was contacted by Billy Rose
's assistant and asked to audition as a replacement for Eleanor Holm
in his Aquacade
show. Williams impressed Rose, and she got the role. The Aquacade was part of the Golden Gate International Exposition
, and Williams was partnered with Olympic
swimmer and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller
, who, as Williams wrote in her autobiography, repeatedly tried to seduce her during the show's run. Despite this, Williams remained with the show until it closed on September 29, 1940.
scouts. MGM's head, Louis B. Mayer
, had been looking for a female sports star for the studio to compete with Fox
's figure skating star, Sonja Henie
. Williams signed her contract with MGM in 1941.
In her contract were two clauses: the first being that she receive a guest pass to The Beverly Hills Hotel where she could swim in the pool every day, and the second that she would not appear on camera for nine months to allow for acting, singing, dancing and diction lessons. Williams wrote in her autobiography, "If it took nine months for a baby to be born, I figured my 'birth' from Esther Williams the swimmer to Esther Williams the movie actress would not be much different."
While top stars at the studios such as Judy Garland
, Betty Grable
and Shirley Temple
took part in bond tours
during the war, Williams was asked to take in hospital tours. At this point, Williams had achieved pin-up status because of the number of photographs of her in bathing suits. To prepare, Williams and her publicity assistant would listen to Bob Hope
and Jack Benny
's radio programs, retelling the funniest jokes while at the hospitals. Williams also invited GIs to dance with her on stage and take part in mock screen tests. The men would receive a card telling them their lines, and they would act out the scene in front of the other soldiers. These tests were always romantic scenes and included Williams begging the men to make love to her character, to which they were required to refuse ... multiple times. When the men said the final, "No," Williams would pull at her tear-away skirt and sweater leaving nothing but a gold lamé swimsuit. The scenes would always end with the men giving in and kissing her after that stunt. Her hospital tours continued into the 1950s. A (forged) signed, waterproof portrait of Williams was circulated among men in the US Navy for a "capture the Esther" competition
. This competition continues to this day in the Royal Australian Navy, which holds in its archives an 'original' forged signed portrait while maintaining a 'capturable' image for use in the fleet.
directed William's first screen test. The studio was impressed, and when Lana Turner
eloped with Artie Shaw
, Williams screen tested with the leading man Clark Gable
, for the film Somewhere I'll Find You
. However, Turner divorced Shaw after four months of marriage, and rejoined the cast of the film. Following several short subject films, Williams appeared as Sheila Brooks in Andy Hardy
's Double Life. Sheila was a coed with whom Andy falls in love. Next was a small part in the film A Guy Named Joe
, starring Spencer Tracy
and Irene Dunne
. It was here that she first worked with Van Johnson
- later partnering in five films.
Bathing Beauty
, previously titled Mr. Coed, starred Red Skelton
as a man who enrolls in a women's college to win back his swimming instructor fiancee, played by Williams. This was her first Technicolor musical. The studio changed the title of the film to showcase Williams. Almost all of the film's posters featured Williams in a bathing suit, though the swimming sequences make up a small portion of the film. Her date to the premiere at the Astor Theater in New York City was future husband Ben Gage
. For the event, MGM publicity set up a six story-tall billboard of Williams diving into Times Square with a large sign that said "Come on in! The story's fine!"
Williams appeared in the film Ziegfeld Follies
as herself. This was followed by the musical Thrill of a Romance
. Van Johnson co-starred as a decorated war veteran who falls in love with Williams while on her honeymoon. Thrill of a Romance was the 8th highest grossing film of 1945. Williams had to help Johnson swim, and she placed her hand under his back to keep him afloat. The studio's publicity department tried to put the two together in public as much as possible in the hopes of encouraging a romance, even though Williams was involved with Gage at the time. When asked why they didn't date, Johnson replied, "because I'm afraid she can't get her webbed feet into a pair of evening sandals."
Williams tried a more serious role in 1946's The Hoodlum Saint, with William Powell
. Audiences expected Powell's Nick Charles
persona and rejected the idea of a romance between Williams and Powell onscreen. She also appeared in Easy to Wed
, a remake of 1936's Libeled Lady
, with Johnson and Lucille Ball
.
Fiesta
(originally called Fiesta Brava) starred Williams as Ricardo Montalbán
's twin sister, Maria, who pretends to be her bullfighting
brother in hopes of luring him back home. Audiences, and Williams, thought the film was silly as Williams and Montalbán had vastly different accents. Montalbán was born in Mexico and was a native Spanish speaker while Williams had a midwestern accent picked up from her Kansas-born parents. Production was difficult with a multitude of problems. By 1947, Gage and Williams were married and Gage had traveled to Mexico for the making of the film. He got into a fight with an employee of the cast's hotel, was arrested, and subsequently thrown out of the country.The director of photography, Sidney Wagner, and one other crew member died of cholera
from eating contaminated street food. Many of the film's stuntmen were sent to the hospital after being gored by bulls. Director Dick Thorpe
hadn't wanted the bulls killed (as they usually were at the end of a bullfight) because he believed them to be too expensive to replace.
After filming was completed on Fiesta, Williams appeared in the romance film This Time for Keeps
with singer Johnnie Johnston. In 1948, Williams signed a contract with swimwear company Cole of California to appear as their spokesperson. Because of this, Williams and the other swimmers in her films wear Cole swimsuits. Since the aqua-musicals were an entirely new genre, the studio's costume designers had little experience creating practical swimsuits. William's plaid flannel swimsuit for Thrill of a Romance was so heavy that she was dragged to the bottom of the pool, and had to unzip the suit, swimming naked to the edge of the pool to avoid drowning. Cole swimsuits used latex, which meant zippers were no longer necessary. While filming 1952's Skirts Ahoy, Williams discovered that members of the WAVES
program received thin, cotton, shapeless swimsuits as part of their uniforms. Williams modeled a Cole swimsuit for the Secretary of the Navy and explained that the new swimsuits helped support women's figures. The United States Navy ordered 50,000 suits immediately.
In 1949, Williams began filming Take Me Out to the Ball Game
.. It was a period musical starring Gene Kelly
and Frank Sinatra
as players on a baseball team owned by Williams's character, K.C. Higgins. In her autobiography, she described filming as "pure misery," claiming that Kelly and writer Stanley Donen
treated her with contempt and went out of their way to make jokes at her expense. The film was well-received critically and became a major commercial success, raking in $3.4 million in rentals and becoming the 11th highest earning film of the year. Williams also made Neptune's Daughter
that year, co-starring Ricardo Montalbán, Red Skelton and Betty Garrett
, who had also been in Take Me Out to the Ball Game
. In the film, Williams sings the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside
" with Montalbán. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
at the 22nd Academy Awards
. Williams and Montalbán were originally slated to sing "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China
", but studio censors thought the song was too sexual (interpreting the word "get" as "have") and instead gave them "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Neptune's Daughter went on to be the 10th highest grossing film of 1949.
In 1952's Million Dollar Mermaid
, Williams played Annette Kellerman
, an Australian swimming and diving star. Williams co-starred with Victor Mature
, who played Kellerman's husband and manager, James Sullivan. The two engaged in a passionate affair during filming. Williams has often called this her favorite film, and named her autobiography after it. Williams also won the Henrietta Award at the 1952 Golden Globes, for World Film Favorite – Female.
1953's Easy to Love
(also with Van Johnson) was filmed on location in Cypress Gardens
, where a Florida-shaped pool had been built specifically for the film. Williams was pregnant during shooting, but still performed her own waterskiing stunts.
In Dangerous When Wet
, Williams worked with three important males – Tom and Jerry
and future husband Fernando Lamas
. During casting, Lamas told Williams he did not want to star in the film with her because he only wanted to be involved in "important pictures". His part had to be rewritten to convince him to take part in the film.
Williams then made Duchess of Idaho
, shot on location in Sun Valley, Idaho
, co-starring Van Johnson
. MGM next paired her with Howard Keel
for two films, Pagan Love Song and Jupiter's Darling
. They both had cameos in the film Callaway Went Thataway
.
In 1953, Williams had been on maternity leave for three months while pregnant with daughter Susan, and had assumed that she would get straight to work on the film Athena
when she got back. However, production started without her, and the studio cast Jane Powell
in the lead role, rewriting much of the premise that Williams and writers Leo Pogostin and Chuck Walters
had come up with. The studio moved her to Jupiter's Darling. Two more films were planned, Bermuda Encounter and Olympic Venus, about the first Olympic swimmers, however, these were never made.
Many of her MGM films, such as Million Dollar Mermaid and Jupiter's Darling, contained elaborately staged synchronized swimming scenes, with considerable risk to Williams. She broke her neck filming a 115 ft dive off a tower during a climactic musical number for the film Million Dollar Mermaid which landed her in a body cast for seven months. She subsequently recovered, though still suffers headaches as a result of the accident. Her many hours spent submerged in a studio tank resulted in ruptured eardrum
s numerous times. She also nearly drowned after not being able to find the trap door in the ceiling of a tank. The walls and ceiling were painted black and the trap door blended in. Williams was pulled out only because a member of the crew realized the door wasn't opening.
, a musical remake of 1939's The Women
. The role of Mary would have been rewritten to be an aquacade star (and was eventually filled by June Allyson
as "Kay", a nightclub singer). Williams redecorated her dressing room to accommodate returning star Grace Kelly
, packed her terry cloth robes and swimsuits and drove off the studio lot.
As a result of leaving her contract, Williams lost almost $3 million in deferred contract payments, which had been taken from her paychecks over the previous 14 years and put aside as both a nest egg and a tax dodge. She was, however, still able to collect on the $50,000 signing bonus from when she first signed her contract.
In 1956, she moved to Universal International and appeared in a non-musical dramatic film, The Unguarded Moment. After that, her film career slowly wound down. She later admitted that husband Fernando Lamas
preferred her not to continue in films. She would, however, make occasional appearances on television, including mystery guest appearances for What's My Line?
, The Ed Sullivan Show
and two aqua-specials, The Esther Williams Aqua Spectacle in 1956 and Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens on August 8, 1960. More than half of all television sets in use in the United States were tuned in to watch the Cypress Gardens special. She also starred in an aqua-special in Wembley Stadium
.
In 1966, Williams was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
She is also the namesake of a company that manufactures swimming pool
s and swimming pool accessories. She came out with a line of Swim, Baby, Swim videos, which helped parents teach their children how to swim. She also appeared as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Williams met her fourth husband as a result of his calling her to coordinate her appearance. She co-wrote her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999) with popular media critic and author Digby Diehl.
In a 2007 interview with Diane Sawyer
, Williams admitted that she had recently had a stroke. "I opened my eyes and I could see, but I couldn't remember anything from the past", she said. She has been recovering since then.
In June 2008, Williams went to the funeral of Cyd Charisse
in a wheelchair.
In April 2010, Williams appeared at the first Turner Classic Movies
Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, California, alongside two time co-star Betty Garrett
. Her 1949 film Neptune's Daughter was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel, along with a performance of the Williams-inspired synchronized swimming troupe, The Waterlilies. South Beach Miami's 2010 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim, a showcase of designer swimwear, included an Esther Williams suite, complete with a beach summer theme and sand palette with aqua accents.
. She later wrote in her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid that "he was smart, handsome, dependable...and dull. I respected his intelligence, and his dedication to a future career in medicine
. He loved me, or so he said, and even asked me to marry him." They were married in the San Francisco suburb of Los Altos
on June 27, 1940. On their split she said "I found, much to my relief, that all I needed for my emotional and personal security was my own resolve and determination. I didn't need a marriage and a ring. I had come to realize all too quickly that Leonard Kovner was not a man I could ever really love." They divorced on September 12, 1944.
She married singer/actor
Ben Gage
on November 25, 1945; they had three children, Benjamin Stanton (born August 6, 1949), Kimball Austin (October 30, 1950 – May 6, 2008) and Susan Tenney (born October 1, 1953). In her autobiography, she portrayed Gage as an alcoholic
parasite who squandered $10 million of her earnings. Gage and Williams separated in 1952, and divorced in April 1959.
While Williams was pregnant with her first child, Ben, Williams reduced her amount of water exercise, but began working with a program that taught blind children how to swim.
During her filming of Pagan Love Song in Hawaii, Williams found out she was pregnant with her third child, and she needed to notify the studio back in California. Gage had met a man at the hotel who owned a ham radio and convinced the man to let them use it to call California. What they failed to realize at the time, though, was that anyone could be listening in on their conversation, and news of her pregnancy was broadcast to the entire West Coast.
She also disclosed in her autobiography that she had a passionate affair with actor Victor Mature
while they were working on Million Dollar Mermaid, citing that at the time her marriage was in trouble and, feeling lonely, she turned to Mature for love and affection, and he gave her all she wanted. The affair stopped while Williams was recovering from her fall during the shooting of Million Dollar Mermaid. She was romantically linked with Jeff Chandler
, but broke off the relationship because, she claimed in her autobiography, Chandler was a cross-dresser.
She then married former lover, Argentine actor/director, Fernando Lamas
on December 31, 1969. For 22 years, she lived in total submission to him, where she had to stop being "Esther Williams" and could not have her children live with her. In return, he would be faithful. They were married until his death from pancreatic cancer
on October 8, 1982.
She currently resides in Beverly Hills with actor husband Edward Bell, whom she married on October 24, 1994.
confessed to Look magazine that he had taken LSD
under a doctor's supervision, and it had changed his life. Grant's therapist, Dr. Mortimer Hartman, described LSD as "a psychic energizer which empties the subconscious and intensifies emotion and memory a thousand times." Grant said that, with the help of LSD, he had "found that [he] had a tough inner core of strength," and that when he was young, he "was very dependent upon older men and women. Now, people [came] to [him] for help." Williams stated that she wanted to be one of those people. As she said in Million Dollar Mermaid, "At that point, I really didn’t know who I was. Was I that glamorous femme fatale?… Was I just another broken-down divorcée whose husband left her with all the bills and three kids?” Shortly after reading the article, she contacted Grant. He called his doctor and made an appointment for her. Williams said that LSD seemed like instant psychoanalysis
, and allowed her insight into why she had taken on the role of the older brother, Stanton.
There has been a resurgence of interest in the work of Esther Williams and her legacy typified by the Los Angeles based, water ballet dance company Aqualillies
, and TCM
surrounding the release of Million Dollar Mermaid
on TCM and more recently for her 90th birthday for which Aqualillies
released a tribute video.
Short Subjects
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
movie
Feature film
In the film industry, a feature film is a film production made for initial distribution in theaters and being the main attraction of the screening, rather than a short film screened before it; a full length movie...
star
Movie star
A movie star is a celebrity who is well-known, or famous, for his or her starring, or leading, roles in motion pictures. The term may also apply to an actor or actress who is recognized as a marketable commodity and whose name is used to promote a movie in trailers and posters...
.
Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles Athletic Club
Los Angeles Athletic Club is an athletic club and private social club in Los Angeles, California, USA. It awards the John R. Wooden Award to the outstanding men's and women's college basketball player of each year....
swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics
1940 Summer Olympics
The anticipated 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad and originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo, Japan, were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II...
because of the outbreak of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Williams joined Billy Rose's Aquacade
Billy Rose's Aquacade
Billy Rose's Aquacade was a music, dance and swimming show produced by Billy Rose at the Great Lakes Exposition in 1937.Later Aquacade moved to the 1939 New York World's Fair where it was the most successful production of the fair . The Art Deco 11,000 seat amphitheatre was designed by architects...
, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm
Eleanor Holm
Eleanor G. Holm was an American swimmer. An Olympic champion, she is best known for having been suspended from the 1936 Summer Olympics team, after she had attended a cocktail party on the transatlantic cruise ship taking her to Germany...
after the show's move from New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
to San Francisco. There, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic swimmer and Tarzan star, Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
.
It was at the Aquacade that Williams caught the attention of MGM scouts. After appearing in several small roles, alongside Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney
Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award...
in an Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol....
film, and future five time co-star Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
in A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe is a 1943 film made by MGM, directed by Victor Fleming, produced by Everett Riskin, from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan from a story by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm. It starred Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne and Van Johnson, with Esther Williams...
, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronized swimming
Synchronized swimming
Synchronized swImming is a hybrid form of swimming, dance and gymnastics, consisting of swimmers performing a synchronized routine of elaborate moves in the water, accompanied by music....
and diving
Diving
Diving is the sport of jumping or falling into water from a platform or springboard, sometimes while performing acrobatics. Diving is an internationally-recognized sport that is part of the Olympic Games. In addition, unstructured and non-competitive diving is a recreational pastime.Diving is one...
.
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
Annette Kellerman
Annette Marie Sarah Kellerman was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville and film star, and writer...
in Million Dollar Mermaid
Million Dollar Mermaid
Million Dollar Mermaid is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer biographical musical film of the life of Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. from a screenplay by Everett Freeman. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch, the...
, 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
Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens was an American theme park near Winter Haven, Florida, that operated from 1936 to 2009.-History:Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park, Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie...
, Florida.
Since her retirement from film in the 1960s, Williams has become 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
Synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Synchronized swimming was introduced to the Olympic Games at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, with two events, both for women only.-Medal summary:-Medal table:...
at the 1984 Summer Olympics
1984 Summer Olympics
The 1984 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIII Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event held in Los Angeles, California, United States in 1984...
in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. As of 2011 Williams lives with her fourth husband, Edward Bell, in Beverly Hills.
Early years
Born in Inglewood, CaliforniaInglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. Its population stood at 109,673 as of the 2010 Census...
, Williams was the fifth and youngest child of Louis Stanton Williams (January 19, 1886 – June 10, 1968) and Bula Myrtle, née Gilpin (October 8, 1885 – 1975). Louis Williams was a sign painter and Bula Williams was a psychologist. The two lived on neighboring farms in Kansas and carried on a nine year courtship until June 1, 1908, when they eloped and set off for California. However, they ran out of money in Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City, Utah
Salt Lake City is the capital and the most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. The name of the city is often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC. With a population of 186,440 as of the 2010 Census, the city lies in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area, which has a total population of 1,124,197...
, and settled there. Williams's brother, Stanton (September 4, 1912 – March 3, 1929) was discovered by actress Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Rambeau
Marjorie Rambeau was an American film and stage actress.-Early life:Rambeau was born in San Francisco, California to Marcel Rambeau and Lilian Garlinda Kindelberger. Her parents split up when she was a girl. She and her mother went to Nome, Alaska where young Marjorie dressed as a boy, sang and...
, which led to the family (including sisters Maurine and June and brother David) moving to the Los Angeles area to be near the studios. Louis Williams purchased a small piece of land in southwest area of town, and had a small house built there. Esther was born in the living room, which was also where the family slept until Louis Williams was able to add bedrooms. In 1929, Stanton Williams died after his colon burst.
In 1935, Bula Williams invited 16-year-old Buddy McClure to live with her family. McClure had recently lost his mother and Mrs Williams was still grieving over the death of her son. Esther recounted in her autobiography that one night, when the rest of the family was visiting relatives in Alhambra
Alhambra, California
Alhambra is a city located in the western San Gabriel Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, United States, which is approximately eight miles from the Downtown Los Angeles civic center. As of the 2010 census, the population was 83,089, down from 85,804 at the 2000 census. The city's...
, McClure raped her. She was terrified to tell anyone about the incident and waited two years before finally revealing the truth to her parents. They seemed unsure about her story, claiming McClure was "sensitive" and were sympathetic towards him when he admitted his guilt. After Williams stood up to him and banished him from her home, McClure joined the Coast Guard, and Williams never saw him again.
Swimming star
Williams was enthusiastic about swimming in her youth. Her older sister, Maurine, took her to Manhattan BeachManhattan Beach, California
Manhattan Beach is the wealthiest beachfront city located in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, USA. The city is on the Pacific coast, south of El Segundo, and north of Hermosa Beach. Manhattan Beach is the home of both beach and indoor volleyball, and surfing. During the winter, the...
and to the local pool.
She took a job counting towels at the pool to pay the five cent entry fee, and while there, had swimming lessons from the male lifeguards. From them, she learned the 'male only' swimming strokes, including the butterfly breaststroke
Breaststroke
The breaststroke is a swimming style in which the swimmer is on his or her chest and the torso does not rotate. It is the most popular recreational style due to its stability and the ability to keep the head out of the water a large portion of the time. In most swimming classes, beginners learn...
, with which she would later break records.
Her medley team set the record for the 300-yard relay at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1939, and was also National AAU champion in the 100 meter freestyle, with a record-breaking time of 1 minute 0.09 seconds. By age 16, Williams had won three U.S. National championships in breaststroke and freestyle swimming. Williams planned to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics
1940 Summer Olympics
The anticipated 1940 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XII Olympiad and originally scheduled to be held from September 21 to October 6, 1940, in Tokyo, Japan, were cancelled due to the outbreak of World War II...
but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War II.
Williams graduated from Washington Preparatory High School
Washington Preparatory High School
George Washington Preparatory High School is a secondary school in the Westmont section of unincorporated Los Angeles County, California, United States that is part of the Los Angeles Unified School District, .It was founded in 1926...
in 1939, where she served as class Vice President, and later President. However, Williams never trained in swimming while there.
During her senior year of high school, Williams received a D in her algebra
Algebra
Algebra is the branch of mathematics concerning the study of the rules of operations and relations, and the constructions and concepts arising from them, including terms, polynomials, equations and algebraic structures...
course, preventing her from getting a scholarship from the University of Southern California
University of Southern California
The University of Southern California is a private, not-for-profit, nonsectarian, research university located in Los Angeles, California, United States. USC was founded in 1880, making it California's oldest private research university...
. She enrolled in Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
to retake the course. In 1939, Williams expressed interest in pursuing a degree in physical education in order to teach it one day. To earn money to pay tuition, Williams took a job as a stock girl at I. Magnin
I. Magnin
I. Magnin & Company was a San Francisco, California-based high fashion and specialty goods luxury department store. Over the course of its existence, it expanded across the West into Southern California and the adjoining states of Arizona, Oregon, and Washington...
department store, where she also modelled clothing for customers and appeared in newspaper advertisements.
While Williams was working at I. Magnin, she was contacted by Billy Rose
Billy Rose
William "Billy" Rose was an American impresario, theatrical showman and lyricist. He is credited with many famous songs, notably "Me and My Shadow" , "It Happened in Monterey" and "It's Only a Paper Moon"...
's assistant and asked to audition as a replacement for Eleanor Holm
Eleanor Holm
Eleanor G. Holm was an American swimmer. An Olympic champion, she is best known for having been suspended from the 1936 Summer Olympics team, after she had attended a cocktail party on the transatlantic cruise ship taking her to Germany...
in his Aquacade
Billy Rose's Aquacade
Billy Rose's Aquacade was a music, dance and swimming show produced by Billy Rose at the Great Lakes Exposition in 1937.Later Aquacade moved to the 1939 New York World's Fair where it was the most successful production of the fair . The Art Deco 11,000 seat amphitheatre was designed by architects...
show. Williams impressed Rose, and she got the role. The Aquacade was part of the Golden Gate International Exposition
Golden Gate International Exposition
The Golden Gate International Exposition , held at San Francisco, California's Treasure Island, was a World's Fair that celebrated, among other things, the city's two newly-built bridges. The San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge was dedicated in 1936 and the Golden Gate Bridge was dedicated in 1937...
, and Williams was partnered with Olympic
Olympic Games
The Olympic Games is a major international event featuring summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games have come to be regarded as the world’s foremost sports competition where more than 200 nations participate...
swimmer and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller
Johnny Weissmuller was an Austro-Hungarian-born American swimmer and actor best known for playing Tarzan in movies. Weissmuller was one of the world's best swimmers in the 1920s, winning five Olympic gold medals and one bronze medal. He won fifty-two US National Championships and set sixty-seven...
, who, as Williams wrote in her autobiography, repeatedly tried to seduce her during the show's run. Despite this, Williams remained with the show until it closed on September 29, 1940.
Film career
It was at Aquacade that Williams first attracted attention from Metro-Goldwyn-MayerMetro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of films and television programs. MGM was founded in 1924 when the entertainment entrepreneur Marcus Loew gained control of Metro Pictures, Goldwyn Pictures Corporation and Louis B. Mayer...
scouts. MGM's head, Louis B. Mayer
Louis B. Mayer
Louis Burt Mayer born Lazar Meir was an American film producer. He is generally cited as the creator of the "star system" within Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in its golden years. Known always as Louis B...
, had been looking for a female sports star for the studio to compete with Fox
20th Century Fox
Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation — also known as 20th Century Fox, or simply 20th or Fox — is one of the six major American film studios...
's figure skating star, Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie
Sonja Henie was a Norwegian figure skater and film star. She was a three-time Olympic Champion in Ladies Singles, a ten-time World Champion and a six-time European Champion . Henie won more Olympic and World titles than any other ladies figure skater...
. Williams signed her contract with MGM in 1941.
In her contract were two clauses: the first being that she receive a guest pass to The Beverly Hills Hotel where she could swim in the pool every day, and the second that she would not appear on camera for nine months to allow for acting, singing, dancing and diction lessons. Williams wrote in her autobiography, "If it took nine months for a baby to be born, I figured my 'birth' from Esther Williams the swimmer to Esther Williams the movie actress would not be much different."
Judy Garland
Judy Garland was an American actress and singer. Through a career that spanned 45 of her 47 years and for her renowned contralto voice, she attained international stardom as an actress in musical and dramatic roles, as a recording artist and on the concert stage...
, Betty Grable
Betty Grable
Elizabeth Ruth "Betty" Grable was an American actress, dancer and singer.Her iconic bathing suit photo made her the number-one pin-up girl of the World War II era. It was later included in the LIFE magazine project "100 Photos that Changed the World"...
and Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple
Shirley Temple Black , born Shirley Jane Temple, is an American film and television actress, singer, dancer, autobiographer, and former U.S. Ambassador to Ghana and Czechoslovakia...
took part in bond tours
War bond
War bonds are debt securities issued by a government for the purpose of financing military operations during times of war. War bonds generate capital for the government and make civilians feel involved in their national militaries...
during the war, Williams was asked to take in hospital tours. At this point, Williams had achieved pin-up status because of the number of photographs of her in bathing suits. To prepare, Williams and her publicity assistant would listen to Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
and Jack Benny
Jack Benny
Jack Benny was an American comedian, vaudevillian, and actor for radio, television, and film...
's radio programs, retelling the funniest jokes while at the hospitals. Williams also invited GIs to dance with her on stage and take part in mock screen tests. The men would receive a card telling them their lines, and they would act out the scene in front of the other soldiers. These tests were always romantic scenes and included Williams begging the men to make love to her character, to which they were required to refuse ... multiple times. When the men said the final, "No," Williams would pull at her tear-away skirt and sweater leaving nothing but a gold lamé swimsuit. The scenes would always end with the men giving in and kissing her after that stunt. Her hospital tours continued into the 1950s. A (forged) signed, waterproof portrait of Williams was circulated among men in the US Navy for a "capture the Esther" competition
Esther Williams Trophy
The Esther Williams Trophy is one of two trophies that have circulated among ships of various navies, after originating in the Royal Australian Navy. Initially, in 1943, the trophy was a joke between two friends, Lieutenants Lindsay Brand and David Stevenson , serving in , an N class destroyer...
. This competition continues to this day in the Royal Australian Navy, which holds in its archives an 'original' forged signed portrait while maintaining a 'capturable' image for use in the fleet.
1940s
Three weeks after signing her contract, George SidneyGeorge Sidney
George Sidney was an American film director and film producer who worked primarily at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer.-Career:...
directed William's first screen test. The studio was impressed, and when Lana Turner
Lana Turner
Lana Turner was an American actress.Discovered and signed to a film contract by MGM at the age of sixteen, Turner first attracted attention in They Won't Forget . She played featured roles, often as the ingenue, in such films as Love Finds Andy Hardy...
eloped with Artie Shaw
Artie Shaw
Arthur Jacob Arshawsky , better known as Artie Shaw, was an American jazz clarinetist, composer, and bandleader. He was also the author of both fiction and non-fiction writings....
, Williams screen tested with the leading man Clark Gable
Clark Gable
William Clark Gable , known as Clark Gable, was an American film actor most famous for his role as Rhett Butler in the 1939 Civil War epic film Gone with the Wind, in which he starred with Vivien Leigh...
, for the film Somewhere I'll Find You
Somewhere I'll Find You
Somewhere I'll Find You is a film released by Metro-Goldwyn Mayer in 1942. The film stars Clark Gable and Lana Turner. The film took almost two years to complete. This was the last film Gable starred in before he enlisted in World War II...
. However, Turner divorced Shaw after four months of marriage, and rejoined the cast of the film. Following several short subject films, Williams appeared as Sheila Brooks in Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy
Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol....
's Double Life. Sheila was a coed with whom Andy falls in love. Next was a small part in the film A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe
A Guy Named Joe is a 1943 film made by MGM, directed by Victor Fleming, produced by Everett Riskin, from a screenplay by Dalton Trumbo, adapted by Frederick Hazlitt Brennan from a story by Chandler Sprague and David Boehm. It starred Spencer Tracy, Irene Dunne and Van Johnson, with Esther Williams...
, starring Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
and Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne
Irene Dunne was an American film actress and singer of the 1930s, 1940s and early 1950s. Dunne was nominated five times for the Academy Award for Best Actress, for her performances in Cimarron , Theodora Goes Wild , The Awful Truth , Love Affair and I Remember Mama...
. It was here that she first worked with Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
- later partnering in five films.
Bathing Beauty
Bathing Beauty
Bathing Beauty is a 1944 musical starring Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone and Esther Williams and directed by George Sidney.Although this was not William's screen debut, it was her first Technicolor musical. The film was initially to be titled "Mr. Co-Ed" with Red Skelton having top billing...
, previously titled Mr. Coed, starred Red Skelton
Red Skelton
Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing...
as a man who enrolls in a women's college to win back his swimming instructor fiancee, played by Williams. This was her first Technicolor musical. The studio changed the title of the film to showcase Williams. Almost all of the film's posters featured Williams in a bathing suit, though the swimming sequences make up a small portion of the film. Her date to the premiere at the Astor Theater in New York City was future husband Ben Gage
Ben Gage
Ben Gage was a radio singer and announcer, occasional off-screen film singer dubbing the voice of non-singing actors, and American television actor active from 1959 to 1975....
. For the event, MGM publicity set up a six story-tall billboard of Williams diving into Times Square with a large sign that said "Come on in! The story's fine!"
Williams appeared in the film Ziegfeld Follies
Ziegfeld Follies
The Ziegfeld Follies were a series of elaborate theatrical productions on Broadway in New York City from 1907 through 1931. They became a radio program in 1932 and 1936 as The Ziegfeld Follies of the Air....
as herself. This was followed by the musical Thrill of a Romance
Thrill of a Romance
Thrill of a Romance was an American romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by opera singer Lauritz Melchior...
. Van Johnson co-starred as a decorated war veteran who falls in love with Williams while on her honeymoon. Thrill of a Romance was the 8th highest grossing film of 1945. Williams had to help Johnson swim, and she placed her hand under his back to keep him afloat. The studio's publicity department tried to put the two together in public as much as possible in the hopes of encouraging a romance, even though Williams was involved with Gage at the time. When asked why they didn't date, Johnson replied, "because I'm afraid she can't get her webbed feet into a pair of evening sandals."
Williams tried a more serious role in 1946's The Hoodlum Saint, with William Powell
William Powell
William Horatio Powell was an American actor.A major star at MGM, he was paired with Myrna Loy in 14 films, including the popular Thin Man series in which Powell and Loy played Nick and Nora Charles...
. Audiences expected Powell's Nick Charles
Nick and Nora Charles
Nick and Nora Charles are fictional characters created by Dashiell Hammett in his novel The Thin Man. The characters were later adapted for film in a series of movies between 1934 and 1947; for radio from 1941 to 1950; for television from 1957 through 1959; as a Broadway musical in 1991; and as a...
persona and rejected the idea of a romance between Williams and Powell onscreen. She also appeared in Easy to Wed
Easy to Wed
Easy to Wed is a 1946 American musical comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell. The screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley is an updated adaptation of the screenplay of the 1936 film Libeled Lady by Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, and George Oppenheimer.-Plot:Financier J.B...
, a remake of 1936's Libeled Lady
Libeled Lady
Libeled Lady is a 1936 screwball comedy film starring Jean Harlow, William Powell, Myrna Loy and Spencer Tracy, written by George Oppenheimer, Howard Emmett Rogers, Wallace Sullivan and Maurine Dallas Watkins, and directed by Jack Conway....
, with Johnson and Lucille Ball
Lucille Ball
Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy...
.
Fiesta
Fiesta (1947 film)
Fiesta was an American Technicolor musical-drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1947, starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalbán, Mary Astor and Cyd Charisse. The film was directed by Richard Thorpe and written by George Bruce and Lester Cole...
(originally called Fiesta Brava) starred Williams as Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Montalbán
Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles...
's twin sister, Maria, who pretends to be her bullfighting
Bullfighting
Bullfighting is a traditional spectacle of Spain, Portugal, southern France and some Latin American countries , in which one or more bulls are baited in a bullring for sport and entertainment...
brother in hopes of luring him back home. Audiences, and Williams, thought the film was silly as Williams and Montalbán had vastly different accents. Montalbán was born in Mexico and was a native Spanish speaker while Williams had a midwestern accent picked up from her Kansas-born parents. Production was difficult with a multitude of problems. By 1947, Gage and Williams were married and Gage had traveled to Mexico for the making of the film. He got into a fight with an employee of the cast's hotel, was arrested, and subsequently thrown out of the country.The director of photography, Sidney Wagner, and one other crew member died of cholera
Cholera
Cholera is an infection of the small intestine that is caused by the bacterium Vibrio cholerae. The main symptoms are profuse watery diarrhea and vomiting. Transmission occurs primarily by drinking or eating water or food that has been contaminated by the diarrhea of an infected person or the feces...
from eating contaminated street food. Many of the film's stuntmen were sent to the hospital after being gored by bulls. Director Dick Thorpe
Richard Thorpe
Richard Thorpe was an American film director.Born Rollo Smolt Thorpe in Hutchinson, Kansas, he began his entertainment career performing in vaudeville and onstage. In 1921 he began in motion pictures as an actor and directed his first silent film in 1923. He went on to direct more than one hundred...
hadn't wanted the bulls killed (as they usually were at the end of a bullfight) because he believed them to be too expensive to replace.
After filming was completed on Fiesta, Williams appeared in the romance film This Time for Keeps
This Time for Keeps
This Time for Keeps is an American romantic musical film released in 1947 and produced by MGM. It is about a soldier, returning home from war who does not wish to work for his father's opera company or to continue his relationship with his pre-war lover. It stars Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante,...
with singer Johnnie Johnston. In 1948, Williams signed a contract with swimwear company Cole of California to appear as their spokesperson. Because of this, Williams and the other swimmers in her films wear Cole swimsuits. Since the aqua-musicals were an entirely new genre, the studio's costume designers had little experience creating practical swimsuits. William's plaid flannel swimsuit for Thrill of a Romance was so heavy that she was dragged to the bottom of the pool, and had to unzip the suit, swimming naked to the edge of the pool to avoid drowning. Cole swimsuits used latex, which meant zippers were no longer necessary. While filming 1952's Skirts Ahoy, Williams discovered that members of the WAVES
WAVES
The WAVES were a World War II-era division of the U.S. Navy that consisted entirely of women. The name of this group is an acronym for "Women Accepted for Volunteer Emergency Service" ; the word "emergency" implied that the acceptance of women was due to the unusual circumstances of the war and...
program received thin, cotton, shapeless swimsuits as part of their uniforms. Williams modeled a Cole swimsuit for the Secretary of the Navy and explained that the new swimsuits helped support women's figures. The United States Navy ordered 50,000 suits immediately.
In 1949, Williams began filming Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Take Me Out to the Ball Game (film)
Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a 1949 Technicolor musical film starring Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, and Gene Kelly. The movie was directed by Busby Berkeley. The title and nominal theme is taken from the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"...
.. It was a period musical starring Gene Kelly
Gene Kelly
Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer...
and Frank Sinatra
Frank Sinatra
Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the...
as players on a baseball team owned by Williams's character, K.C. Higgins. In her autobiography, she described filming as "pure misery," claiming that Kelly and writer Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen
Stanley Donen ; is an American film director and choreographer whose most celebrated works are Singin' in the Rain and On the Town, both of which he co-directed with Gene Kelly. His other noteworthy films include Royal Wedding, Seven Brides for Seven Brothers, Funny Face, Indiscreet, Damn...
treated her with contempt and went out of their way to make jokes at her expense. The film was well-received critically and became a major commercial success, raking in $3.4 million in rentals and becoming the 11th highest earning film of the year. Williams also made Neptune's Daughter
Neptune's Daughter (1949 film)
Neptune's Daughter is a 1949 musical romantic comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalbán, Betty Garrett, Keenan Wynn, Xavier Cugat and Mel Blanc...
that year, co-starring Ricardo Montalbán, Red Skelton and Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
, who had also been in Take Me Out to the Ball Game
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
"Take Me Out to the Ball Game" is a 1908 Tin Pan Alley song by Jack Norworth and Albert Von Tilzer which has become the unofficial anthem of baseball, although neither of its authors had attended a game prior to writing the song. The song is traditionally sung during the seventh-inning stretch of...
. In the film, Williams sings the song "Baby, It's Cold Outside
Baby, It's Cold Outside
Baby, It's Cold Outside may refer to:*"Baby, It's Cold Outside", a 1948 song by Frank Loesser*"Cold Outside", a song by country music band Big House from their self-titled debut album*"Baby, It's Cold Outside", a 1991 short story by Isaac Asimov...
" with Montalbán. The song won the Academy Award for Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
at the 22nd Academy Awards
22nd Academy Awards
-Awards:Winners are listed first and highlighted in boldface.-Multiple nominations and awards:These films had multiple nominations:*8 nominations: The Heiress*7 nominations: All the King's Men, Come to the Stable...
. Williams and Montalbán were originally slated to sing "(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China
(I'd Like to Get You on a) Slow Boat to China
" Slow Boat to China" is a popular song by Frank Loesser, published in 1947.Hit recordings:The song is a well-known pop standard, recorded by many artists, including Rosemary Clooney, Ella Fitzgerald, Joni James, Jimmy Buffett, Fats Domino and Liza Minnelli.Bette Midler and Barry Manilow recorded...
", but studio censors thought the song was too sexual (interpreting the word "get" as "have") and instead gave them "Baby, It's Cold Outside". Neptune's Daughter went on to be the 10th highest grossing film of 1949.
1950s
Million Dollar Mermaid
Million Dollar Mermaid is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer biographical musical film of the life of Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. from a screenplay by Everett Freeman. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch, the...
, Williams played Annette Kellerman
Annette Kellerman
Annette Marie Sarah Kellerman was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville and film star, and writer...
, an Australian swimming and diving star. Williams co-starred with Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
, who played Kellerman's husband and manager, James Sullivan. The two engaged in a passionate affair during filming. Williams has often called this her favorite film, and named her autobiography after it. Williams also won the Henrietta Award at the 1952 Golden Globes, for World Film Favorite – Female.
1953's Easy to Love
Easy to Love (film)
Easy to Love is a 1953 musical film directed by Charles Walters. It stars Esther Williams and Van Johnson.-Cast:*Esther Williams as Julie Hallerton*Van Johnson as Ray Lloyd*Tony Martin as Barry Gordton*John Bromfield as Hank...
(also with Van Johnson) was filmed on location in Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens
Cypress Gardens was an American theme park near Winter Haven, Florida, that operated from 1936 to 2009.-History:Billed as Florida's first commercial tourist theme park, Cypress Gardens opened on January 2, 1936 as a botanical garden planted by Dick Pope Sr. and his wife Julie...
, where a Florida-shaped pool had been built specifically for the film. Williams was pregnant during shooting, but still performed her own waterskiing stunts.
In Dangerous When Wet
Dangerous When Wet
Dangerous When Wet is an Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical starring Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas, and Jack Carson, directed by Charles Walters, and featuring an animated swimming sequence starring Williams with the famous cat-and-mouse duo, Tom and Jerry.-Plot summary:Katie Higgins is...
, Williams worked with three important males – Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry
Tom and Jerry are the cat and mouse cartoon characters that were evolved starting in 1939.Tom and Jerry also may refer to:Cartoon works featuring the cat and mouse so named:* The Tom and Jerry Show...
and future husband Fernando Lamas
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas was an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early life and career:...
. During casting, Lamas told Williams he did not want to star in the film with her because he only wanted to be involved in "important pictures". His part had to be rewritten to convince him to take part in the film.
Williams then made Duchess of Idaho
Duchess of Idaho
Duchess of Idaho is a musical romantic comedy produced in 1950 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it was the fourth film pairing Esther Williams and Van Johnson...
, shot on location in Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley, Idaho
Sun Valley is a resort city in Blaine County in the central part of the U.S. state of Idaho, adjacent to the city of Ketchum, lying within the greater Wood River valley. Tourists from around the world enjoy its skiing, hiking, ice skating, trail riding, tennis, and cycling. The population was 1,427...
, co-starring Van Johnson
Van Johnson
Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II....
. MGM next paired her with Howard Keel
Howard Keel
Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s...
for two films, Pagan Love Song and Jupiter's Darling
Jupiter's Darling (film)
Jupiter's Darling is a musical romance film released by MGM in 1955 and directed by George Sidney. It starred Esther Williams as the Roman woman Amytis, Howard Keel as Hannibal, the Carthaginian military commander and George Sanders as Fabius Maximus, Amytis's fiance...
. They both had cameos in the film Callaway Went Thataway
Callaway Went Thataway
Callaway Went Thataway is a 1951 American comedy film starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, and Howard Keel. It was written, directed, and produced by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama...
.
In 1953, Williams had been on maternity leave for three months while pregnant with daughter Susan, and had assumed that she would get straight to work on the film Athena
Athena (film)
Athena is a romantic musical comedy, starring Jane Powell, Edmund Purdom, Debbie Reynolds, Vic Damone, Louis Calhern, and Norma Varden, and released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer....
when she got back. However, production started without her, and the studio cast Jane Powell
Jane Powell
Jane Powell is an American singer, dancer and actress.After rising to fame as a singer in her home state of Oregon, Powell was signed to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer while still in her teens...
in the lead role, rewriting much of the premise that Williams and writers Leo Pogostin and Chuck Walters
Charles Walters
Charles Walters was a Hollywood director and choreographer most noted for his work in MGM musicals and comedies in from the 1940s to the 1960s....
had come up with. The studio moved her to Jupiter's Darling. Two more films were planned, Bermuda Encounter and Olympic Venus, about the first Olympic swimmers, however, these were never made.
Many of her MGM films, such as Million Dollar Mermaid and Jupiter's Darling, contained elaborately staged synchronized swimming scenes, with considerable risk to Williams. She broke her neck filming a 115 ft dive off a tower during a climactic musical number for the film Million Dollar Mermaid which landed her in a body cast for seven months. She subsequently recovered, though still suffers headaches as a result of the accident. Her many hours spent submerged in a studio tank resulted in ruptured eardrum
Eardrum
The eardrum, or tympanic membrane, is a thin membrane that separates the external ear from the middle ear in humans and other tetrapods. Its function is to transmit sound from the air to the ossicles inside the middle ear. The malleus bone bridges the gap between the eardrum and the other ossicles...
s numerous times. She also nearly drowned after not being able to find the trap door in the ceiling of a tank. The walls and ceiling were painted black and the trap door blended in. Williams was pulled out only because a member of the crew realized the door wasn't opening.
After MGM
After 15 years of appearing in films, Williams was threatened with contract suspension from MGM after refusing to play the lead role in the 1956 film The Opposite SexThe Opposite Sex
The Opposite Sex is a 1956 musical film.It is a remake of the 1939 classic comedy The Women. Both films are based on Claire Boothe Luce's original play...
, a musical remake of 1939's The Women
The Women (1939 film)
The Women is a 1939 American comedy-drama film directed by George Cukor. The film is based on Clare Boothe Luce's play of the same name, and was adapted for the screen by Anita Loos and Jane Murfin, who had to make the film acceptable for the Production Code in order for it to be released.The film...
. The role of Mary would have been rewritten to be an aquacade star (and was eventually filled by June Allyson
June Allyson
June Allyson was an American film and television actress, popular in the 1940s and 1950s. She was a major MGM contract star. Allyson won the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress for her performance in Too Young to Kiss . From 1959–1961, she hosted and occasionally starred in her own CBS anthology...
as "Kay", a nightclub singer). Williams redecorated her dressing room to accommodate returning star Grace Kelly
Grace Kelly
Grace Patricia Kelly was an American actress who, in April 1956, married Rainier III, Prince of Monaco, to become Princess consort of Monaco, styled as Her Serene Highness The Princess of Monaco, and commonly referred to as Princess Grace.After embarking on an acting career in 1950, at the age of...
, packed her terry cloth robes and swimsuits and drove off the studio lot.
As a result of leaving her contract, Williams lost almost $3 million in deferred contract payments, which had been taken from her paychecks over the previous 14 years and put aside as both a nest egg and a tax dodge. She was, however, still able to collect on the $50,000 signing bonus from when she first signed her contract.
In 1956, she moved to Universal International and appeared in a non-musical dramatic film, The Unguarded Moment. After that, her film career slowly wound down. She later admitted that husband Fernando Lamas
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas was an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early life and career:...
preferred her not to continue in films. She would, however, make occasional appearances on television, including mystery guest appearances for What's My Line?
What's My Line?
What's My Line? is a panel game show which originally ran in the United States on the CBS Television Network from 1950 to 1967, with several international versions and subsequent U.S. revivals. The game tasked celebrity panelists with questioning contestants in order to determine their occupations....
, The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show
The Ed Sullivan Show is an American TV variety show that originally ran on CBS from Sunday June 20, 1948 to Sunday June 6, 1971, and was hosted by New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan....
and two aqua-specials, The Esther Williams Aqua Spectacle in 1956 and Esther Williams at Cypress Gardens on August 8, 1960. More than half of all television sets in use in the United States were tuned in to watch the Cypress Gardens special. She also starred in an aqua-special in Wembley Stadium
Wembley Stadium
The original Wembley Stadium, officially known as the Empire Stadium, was a football stadium in Wembley, a suburb of north-west London, standing on the site now occupied by the new Wembley Stadium that opened in 2007...
.
In 1966, Williams was inducted into the International Swimming Hall of Fame.
Later years
Williams retired from acting in the early 1960s and currently lends her name to a line of retro women's swimwear. "Women worldwide are fighting a thing called gravity," said Williams. "I say to women when I talk to them, You girls of 18 have until about 25, 30 at the most, and then you have to report to me. My suits are quality fabric." "I put you in a suit that contains you and you will swim in. I don't want you to be in two Dixie cups and a fish line."She is also the namesake of a company that manufactures swimming pool
Swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...
s and swimming pool accessories. She came out with a line of Swim, Baby, Swim videos, which helped parents teach their children how to swim. She also appeared as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Williams met her fourth husband as a result of his calling her to coordinate her appearance. She co-wrote her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1999) with popular media critic and author Digby Diehl.
In a 2007 interview with Diane Sawyer
Diane Sawyer
Lila Diane Sawyer is the current anchor of ABC News' flagship program, ABC World News. Previously, Sawyer had been co-anchor of ABC Newss morning news program, Good Morning America ....
, Williams admitted that she had recently had a stroke. "I opened my eyes and I could see, but I couldn't remember anything from the past", she said. She has been recovering since then.
In June 2008, Williams went to the funeral of Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse
Cyd Charisse was an American actress and dancer.After recovering from polio as a child, and studying ballet, Charisse entered films in the 1940s...
in a wheelchair.
In April 2010, Williams appeared at the first Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies
Turner Classic Movies is a movie-oriented cable television channel, owned by the Turner Broadcasting System subsidiary of Time Warner, featuring commercial-free classic movies, mostly from the Turner Entertainment and MGM, United Artists, RKO and Warner Bros. film libraries...
Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, California, alongside two time co-star Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett
Betty Garrett was an American actress, comedienne, singer and dancer who originally performed on Broadway before being signed to a film contract with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer...
. Her 1949 film Neptune's Daughter was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel, along with a performance of the Williams-inspired synchronized swimming troupe, The Waterlilies. South Beach Miami's 2010 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim, a showcase of designer swimwear, included an Esther Williams suite, complete with a beach summer theme and sand palette with aqua accents.
Marriages
Williams has been married four times. She met her first husband Leonard Kovner while attending Los Angeles City CollegeLos Angeles City College
Los Angeles City College, known as LACC, is a public community college in the East Hollywood section of Los Angeles, California. A part of the Los Angeles Community College District, it is located on Vermont Avenue south of Santa Monica Boulevard...
. She later wrote in her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid that "he was smart, handsome, dependable...and dull. I respected his intelligence, and his dedication to a future career in medicine
Medicine
Medicine is the science and art of healing. It encompasses a variety of health care practices evolved to maintain and restore health by the prevention and treatment of illness....
. He loved me, or so he said, and even asked me to marry him." They were married in the San Francisco suburb of Los Altos
Los Altos, California
Los Altos is a city at the southern end of the San Francisco Peninsula, in the San Francisco Bay Area. The city is in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,976 according to the 2010 census....
on June 27, 1940. On their split she said "I found, much to my relief, that all I needed for my emotional and personal security was my own resolve and determination. I didn't need a marriage and a ring. I had come to realize all too quickly that Leonard Kovner was not a man I could ever really love." They divorced on September 12, 1944.
She married singer/actor
Actor
An actor is a person who acts in a dramatic production and who works in film, television, theatre, or radio in that capacity...
Ben Gage
Ben Gage
Ben Gage was a radio singer and announcer, occasional off-screen film singer dubbing the voice of non-singing actors, and American television actor active from 1959 to 1975....
on November 25, 1945; they had three children, Benjamin Stanton (born August 6, 1949), Kimball Austin (October 30, 1950 – May 6, 2008) and Susan Tenney (born October 1, 1953). In her autobiography, she portrayed Gage as an alcoholic
Alcoholism
Alcoholism is a broad term for problems with alcohol, and is generally used to mean compulsive and uncontrolled consumption of alcoholic beverages, usually to the detriment of the drinker's health, personal relationships, and social standing...
parasite who squandered $10 million of her earnings. Gage and Williams separated in 1952, and divorced in April 1959.
While Williams was pregnant with her first child, Ben, Williams reduced her amount of water exercise, but began working with a program that taught blind children how to swim.
During her filming of Pagan Love Song in Hawaii, Williams found out she was pregnant with her third child, and she needed to notify the studio back in California. Gage had met a man at the hotel who owned a ham radio and convinced the man to let them use it to call California. What they failed to realize at the time, though, was that anyone could be listening in on their conversation, and news of her pregnancy was broadcast to the entire West Coast.
She also disclosed in her autobiography that she had a passionate affair with actor Victor Mature
Victor Mature
Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,...
while they were working on Million Dollar Mermaid, citing that at the time her marriage was in trouble and, feeling lonely, she turned to Mature for love and affection, and he gave her all she wanted. The affair stopped while Williams was recovering from her fall during the shooting of Million Dollar Mermaid. She was romantically linked with Jeff Chandler
Jeff Chandler (actor)
Jeff Chandler was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities...
, but broke off the relationship because, she claimed in her autobiography, Chandler was a cross-dresser.
She then married former lover, Argentine actor/director, Fernando Lamas
Fernando Lamas
Fernando Álvaro Lamas was an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early life and career:...
on December 31, 1969. For 22 years, she lived in total submission to him, where she had to stop being "Esther Williams" and could not have her children live with her. In return, he would be faithful. They were married until his death from pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer refers to a malignant neoplasm of the pancreas. The most common type of pancreatic cancer, accounting for 95% of these tumors is adenocarcinoma, which arises within the exocrine component of the pancreas. A minority arises from the islet cells and is classified as a...
on October 8, 1982.
She currently resides in Beverly Hills with actor husband Edward Bell, whom she married on October 24, 1994.
LSD
In September 1959, Cary GrantCary Grant
Archibald Alexander Leach , better known by his stage name Cary Grant, was an English actor who later took U.S. citizenship...
confessed to Look magazine that he had taken LSD
LSD
Lysergic acid diethylamide, abbreviated LSD or LSD-25, also known as lysergide and colloquially as acid, is a semisynthetic psychedelic drug of the ergoline family, well known for its psychological effects which can include altered thinking processes, closed and open eye visuals, synaesthesia, an...
under a doctor's supervision, and it had changed his life. Grant's therapist, Dr. Mortimer Hartman, described LSD as "a psychic energizer which empties the subconscious and intensifies emotion and memory a thousand times." Grant said that, with the help of LSD, he had "found that [he] had a tough inner core of strength," and that when he was young, he "was very dependent upon older men and women. Now, people [came] to [him] for help." Williams stated that she wanted to be one of those people. As she said in Million Dollar Mermaid, "At that point, I really didn’t know who I was. Was I that glamorous femme fatale?… Was I just another broken-down divorcée whose husband left her with all the bills and three kids?” Shortly after reading the article, she contacted Grant. He called his doctor and made an appointment for her. Williams said that LSD seemed like instant psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis
Psychoanalysis is a psychological theory developed in the late 19th and early 20th centuries by Austrian neurologist Sigmund Freud. Psychoanalysis has expanded, been criticized and developed in different directions, mostly by some of Freud's former students, such as Alfred Adler and Carl Gustav...
, and allowed her insight into why she had taken on the role of the older brother, Stanton.
Miscellaneous
In 2000 Esther Williams' life and career was quite curiously portrayed in the Swedish book Esther Williams — Skenbiografin (i.E ~ "Esther Williams — The Fake Biography") by Jane Magnusson; where the author shares with the readers her own fascination for art swimming as a genre and, here, in particular, Williams as — to the author — both a bewildering and mesmerizing front figure and icon in this field.There has been a resurgence of interest in the work of Esther Williams and her legacy typified by the Los Angeles based, water ballet dance company Aqualillies
Aqualillies
Aqualillies is a professional synchronized swimming/dance company founded in 2008 and based in Los Angeles, California. They are known as pioneers in the renaissance of water ballet as entertainment...
, and TCM
TCM
-Arts and sciences:* Trinity College of Music, a leading music conservatory, based in Greenwich, London, United Kingdom* Theory of Condensed Matter group, a theoretical physics research group in the Cavendish Laboratory at the University of Cambridge...
surrounding the release of Million Dollar Mermaid
Million Dollar Mermaid
Million Dollar Mermaid is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer biographical musical film of the life of Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. from a screenplay by Everett Freeman. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch, the...
on TCM and more recently for her 90th birthday for which Aqualillies
Aqualillies
Aqualillies is a professional synchronized swimming/dance company founded in 2008 and based in Los Angeles, California. They are known as pioneers in the renaissance of water ballet as entertainment...
released a tribute video.
Filmography
| Year | Film | Role | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1942 | Andy Hardy's Double Life Andy Hardy Andy Hardy was a fictional character played by Mickey Rooney in an MGM film series from 1937 to 1958. Spanning over 20 years, the 16 movies were based on characters in the play Skidding by Aurania Rouverol.... |
Sheila Brooks | with Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney Mickey Rooney is an American film actor and entertainer whose film, television, and stage appearances span nearly his entire lifetime. He has won multiple awards, including an Honorary Academy Award, a Golden Globe and an Emmy Award... |
| 1943 | Ellen Bright | ||
| 1944 | Bathing Beauty Bathing Beauty Bathing Beauty is a 1944 musical starring Red Skelton, Basil Rathbone and Esther Williams and directed by George Sidney.Although this was not William's screen debut, it was her first Technicolor musical. The film was initially to be titled "Mr. Co-Ed" with Red Skelton having top billing... |
Caroline Brooks | with Red Skelton Red Skelton Richard Bernard "Red" Skelton was an American comedian who is best known as a top radio and television star from 1937 to 1971. Skelton's show business career began in his teens as a circus clown and went on to vaudeville, Broadway, films, radio, TV, night clubs and casinos, all while pursuing... |
| 1945 | Thrill of a Romance Thrill of a Romance Thrill of a Romance was an American romance film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1945, starring Van Johnson, Esther Williams and Carleton G. Young, with musical performances by opera singer Lauritz Melchior... |
Cynthia Glenn | with Van Johnson Van Johnson Van Johnson was an American film and television actor and dancer who was a major star at Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studios during and after World War II.... |
| 1945 | Ziegfeld Follies Ziegfeld Follies (film) Ziegfeld Follies is a 1945 Hollywood musical comedy film directed by Lemuel Ayers, Roy Del Ruth, Robert Lewis, Vincente Minnelli, Merrill Pye, George Sidney and Charles Waters... |
Herself | |
| 1946 | Kay Lorrison | ||
| 1946 | Easy to Wed Easy to Wed Easy to Wed is a 1946 American musical comedy film directed by Edward Buzzell. The screenplay by Dorothy Kingsley is an updated adaptation of the screenplay of the 1936 film Libeled Lady by Maurine Dallas Watkins, Howard Emmett Rogers, and George Oppenheimer.-Plot:Financier J.B... |
Connie Allenbury Chandler | with Van Johnson and Lucille Ball Lucille Ball Lucille Désirée Ball was an American comedian, film, television, stage and radio actress, model, film and television executive, and star of the sitcoms I Love Lucy, The Lucy–Desi Comedy Hour, The Lucy Show, Here's Lucy and Life With Lucy... |
| 1946 | Till the Clouds Roll By Till the Clouds Roll By Till The Clouds Roll By is a 1946 American musical film made by MGM. The film is a fictionalized biography of composer Jerome Kern, who was originally involved with the production of the film, but died before it was completed... |
Herself | |
| 1947 | Fiesta Fiesta (1947 film) Fiesta was an American Technicolor musical-drama film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1947, starring Esther Williams, Ricardo Montalbán, Mary Astor and Cyd Charisse. The film was directed by Richard Thorpe and written by George Bruce and Lester Cole... |
Maria Morales | with Ricardo Montalbán Ricardo Montalbán Ricardo Gonzalo Pedro Montalbán y Merino, KSG was a Mexican radio, television, theatre and film actor. He had a career spanning six decades and many notable roles... |
| 1947 | This Time for Keeps This Time for Keeps This Time for Keeps is an American romantic musical film released in 1947 and produced by MGM. It is about a soldier, returning home from war who does not wish to work for his father's opera company or to continue his relationship with his pre-war lover. It stars Esther Williams, Jimmy Durante,... |
Leonora 'Nora' Cambaretti | with Johnnie Johnston |
| 1948 | On an Island with You On an Island with You On an Island with You is a 1948 musical romantic comedy film directed by Richard Thorpe. It stars Esther Williams, Peter Lawford, Ricardo Montalbán, Cyd Charisse and Kathryn Beaumont.... |
Rosalind Reynolds | with Peter Lawford Peter Lawford Peter Sydney Ernest Aylen , better known as Peter Lawford, was an English-American actor.He was a member of the "Rat Pack", and brother-in-law to US President John F. Kennedy, perhaps more noted in later years for his off-screen activities as a celebrity than for his acting... and Ricardo Montalbán |
| 1949 | Take Me Out to the Ball Game Take Me Out to the Ball Game (film) Take Me Out to the Ball Game is a 1949 Technicolor musical film starring Frank Sinatra, Esther Williams, and Gene Kelly. The movie was directed by Busby Berkeley. The title and nominal theme is taken from the unofficial anthem of American baseball, "Take Me Out to the Ball Game"... |
K.C. Higgins | with Gene Kelly Gene Kelly Eugene Curran "Gene" Kelly was an American dancer, actor, singer, film director and producer, and choreographer... and Frank Sinatra Frank Sinatra Francis Albert "Frank" Sinatra was an American singer and actor.Beginning his musical career in the swing era with Harry James and Tommy Dorsey, Sinatra became an unprecedentedly successful solo artist in the early to mid-1940s, after being signed to Columbia Records in 1943. Being the idol of the... |
| 1949 | Neptune's Daughter Neptune's Daughter (1949 film) Neptune's Daughter is a 1949 musical romantic comedy film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer starring Esther Williams, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalbán, Betty Garrett, Keenan Wynn, Xavier Cugat and Mel Blanc... |
Eve Barrett | with Ricardo Montalbán and Red Skelton |
| 1950 | Duchess of Idaho Duchess of Idaho Duchess of Idaho is a musical romantic comedy produced in 1950 by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Directed by Robert Z. Leonard, it was the fourth film pairing Esther Williams and Van Johnson... |
Christine Riverton Duncan | with Van Johnson |
| 1950 | Pagan Love Song | Mimi Bennett | with Howard Keel Howard Keel Harold Clifford Keel , known professionally as Howard Keel, was an American actor and singer. He starred in many film musicals of the 1950s... |
| 1951 | Texas Carnival Texas Carnival Texas Carnival is a 1951 musical film directed by Charles Walters. It stars Esther Williams, Red Skelton and Howard Keel.-Cast:*Esther Williams as Debbie Telford*Red Skelton as Cornie Quinell*Howard Keel as Slim Shelby*Ann Miller as Sunshine Jackson... |
Debbie Telford | with Howard Keel |
| 1951 | Callaway Went Thataway Callaway Went Thataway Callaway Went Thataway is a 1951 American comedy film starring Fred MacMurray, Dorothy McGuire, and Howard Keel. It was written, directed, and produced by Melvin Frank and Norman Panama... |
Herself | |
| 1952 | Skirts Ahoy! | Whitney Young | |
| 1952 | Million Dollar Mermaid Million Dollar Mermaid Million Dollar Mermaid is a 1952 Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer biographical musical film of the life of Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman. It was directed by Mervyn LeRoy and produced by Arthur Hornblow Jr. from a screenplay by Everett Freeman. The music score was by Adolph Deutsch, the... |
Annette Kellerman Annette Kellerman Annette Marie Sarah Kellerman was an Australian professional swimmer, vaudeville and film star, and writer... |
with Victor Mature Victor Mature Victor John Mature was an American stage, film and television actor.-Early life:Mature was born in Louisville, Kentucky to an Italian-speaking father from the town Pinzolo, in the Italian part of the former County of Tyrol , Marcello Gelindo Maturi, later Marcellus George Mature, a cutler,... |
| 1953 | Dangerous When Wet Dangerous When Wet Dangerous When Wet is an Technicolor Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer musical starring Esther Williams, Fernando Lamas, and Jack Carson, directed by Charles Walters, and featuring an animated swimming sequence starring Williams with the famous cat-and-mouse duo, Tom and Jerry.-Plot summary:Katie Higgins is... |
Katie Higgins | with Fernando Lamas Fernando Lamas Fernando Álvaro Lamas was an Argentine-born actor and director, and the father of actor Lorenzo Lamas.-Early life and career:... |
| 1953 | Easy to Love Easy to Love (film) Easy to Love is a 1953 musical film directed by Charles Walters. It stars Esther Williams and Van Johnson.-Cast:*Esther Williams as Julie Hallerton*Van Johnson as Ray Lloyd*Tony Martin as Barry Gordton*John Bromfield as Hank... |
Julie Hallerton | with Van Johnson and Tony Martin Tony Martin (entertainer) Tony Martin is an American actor and singer.-Career:Tony Martin was born on Christmas Day, 1913 as Alvin Morris in San Francisco, California to Jewish immigrant parents. He received a saxophone as a gift from his grandmother at the age of ten. In his grammar school glee club, he became an... |
| 1955 | Jupiter's Darling Jupiter's Darling (film) Jupiter's Darling is a musical romance film released by MGM in 1955 and directed by George Sidney. It starred Esther Williams as the Roman woman Amytis, Howard Keel as Hannibal, the Carthaginian military commander and George Sanders as Fabius Maximus, Amytis's fiance... |
Amytis | with Howard Keel |
| 1956 | Lois Conway | ||
| 1958 | Raw Wind in Eden | Laura | with Jeff Chandler Jeff Chandler (actor) Jeff Chandler was an American film actor and singer in the 1950s.-Early life:Chandler was born Ira Grossel to a Jewish family in Brooklyn, New York, the only child of Anna and Phillip Grossel. He attended Erasmus Hall High School, the alma mater of many stage and film personalities... |
| 1961 | Hillary Allen | ||
| 1963 | Magic Fountain | ||
| 1994 | That's Entertainment! III | Herself |
Short Subjects
- Personalities (1942)
- Inflation (1942)
- Some of the Best (1949)
- 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration (1955)
- Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars (1956)