Personal Info
Known For:
Acting
Birthday:
August 8, 1921
Place of Birth:
Inglewood, California, USA
Social Media
Esther Williams
Biography
Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco. While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold-medal winner and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller. Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade. After appearing in several small roles, and alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving.
Every year from 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film among the 20 highest-grossing films of the year. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which went on to become her nickname while she was at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed network television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.
Williams was also a successful businesswoman. Before retiring from acting, she invested in a "service station, a metal products plant, a manufacturer of bathing suits, various properties and a successful restaurant chain known as Trails." She lent her name to a line of swimming pools, retro swimwear, and instructional swimming videos for children, and served as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.
Description above from the Wikipedia article Esther Williams, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Known For
Filmography
| Year | Movie | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 2024 | Esther Williams: Hollywood's Mermaid | Self (archive footage) |
| 2004 | Hollywood Legenden | Self |
| 2003 | Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof | Self |
| 2002 | Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer | Self (archive footage) |
| 2002 | The Original Mermaid | Herself (archive footage) |
| 2000 | Hollywood Musicals of the 40's | Self (archive footage) |
| 1998 | Glorious Technicolor | Self |
| 1994 | That's Entertainment! III | Self - Co-Host / Narrator |
| 1991 | Stars and Stripes: Hollywood and World War II | Self |
| 1990 | Dance Crazy in Hollywood | Self - Actress (archive footage) |
| 1990 | Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash | Self |
| 1987 | Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood | Self |
| 1985 | Night of 100 Stars II | Self |
| 1985 | That's Dancing! | From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage) |
| 1976 | That's Entertainment, Part II | (archive footage) |
| 1974 | That's Entertainment! | (archive footage) |
| 1972 | Hollywood: The Dream Factory | Self (archive footage) |
| 1963 | Magic Fountain | Hyacinth Tower |
| 1961 | The Big Show | Hillary Allen |
| 1958 | Raw Wind in Eden | Laura |
| 1958 | Andy Hardy Comes Home | Sheila Brooks (archive footage) (uncredited) |
| 1956 | The Unguarded Moment | Lois Conway |
| 1955 | Jupiter's Darling | Amytis |
| 1953 | Easy to Love | Julie Hallerton |
| 1953 | Dangerous When Wet | Katy Higgins |
| 1952 | Million Dollar Mermaid | Annette Kellerman |
| 1952 | Skirts Ahoy! | Whitney Young |
| 1951 | Texas Carnival | Debbie Telford |
| 1951 | Callaway Went Thataway | Esther Williams (uncredited) |
| 1950 | Pagan Love Song | Mimi Bennett |
| 1950 | Duchess of Idaho | Christine Riverton Duncan |
| 1950 | The Costume Designer | Self (archive footage) |
| 1950 | Screen Actors | Self (uncredited) |
| 1949 | Take Me Out to the Ball Game | K.C. Higgins |
| 1949 | Neptune's Daughter | Eve Barrett |
| 1948 | On an Island with You | Rosalind Rennolds |
| 1947 | Fiesta | Maria Morales |
| 1947 | This Time for Keeps | Nora Cambaretti |
| 1946 | Easy to Wed | Connie Allenbury |
| 1946 | Till the Clouds Roll By | Esther Williams - Signing Autographs (uncredited) |
| 1946 | The Hoodlum Saint | Kay Lorrison |
| 1945 | Thrill of a Romance | Cynthia Glenn |
| 1945 | Ziegfeld Follies | Esther Williams (segment "A Water Ballet") |
| 1945 | Parade of Aquatic Champions | Herself |
| 1944 | Bathing Beauty | Caroline Brooks |
| 1944 | Twenty Years After | (archive footage) |
| 1943 | A Guy Named Joe | Ellen Bright |
| 1942 | Andy Hardy's Double Life | Sheila Brooks |
| 1942 | Inflation | Mrs. Smith |
| 1942 | Personalities | Sheila Brooks (screen test footage) (uncredited) |
| Year | TV Show | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Parkinson | Self |
| 1996 | The Rosie O'Donnell Show | Self |
| 1992 | MGM: When the Lion Roars | |
| 1991 | Pebble Mill | Self |
| 1991 | Burt Reynolds' Conversations with... | Self |
| 1959 | The Big Party | Self |
| 1958 | The Donna Reed Show | |
| 1956 | The Dinah Shore Chevy Show | Self |
| 1956 | Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre | Sarah Harmon |
| 1956 | The Steve Allen Show | Self - Swimmer |
| 1955 | MGM Parade | Self - Water Ballerina in 'Ziegfeld Follies' (archive footage) |
| 1954 | The Jimmy Durante Show | Self |
| 1954 | Reflets de Cannes | Self |
| 1953 | The Oscars | Self |
| 1952 | Omnibus | |
| 1950 | Lux Video Theatre | Vicki |
| 1950 | What's My Line? | Self - Mystery Guest |
| 1950 | What's My Line? | Self - Panelist |
| 1948 | The Ed Sullivan Show | Self |
| Private Screenings | Self |