Esther Williams: Hollywood's Mermaid
2024 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Esther Williams
1921-08-08
•
Inglewood, California, USA
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.
Filmography
The Fabulous Allan Carr
2017 · Movie
as Self (archive)
No image
Hollywood Legenden
2004 · Movie
as Self
Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof
2003 · Movie
as Self
Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer
2002 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
The Original Mermaid
2002 · Movie
as Herself (archive footage)
Hollywood Musicals of the 40's
2000 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Glorious Technicolor
1998 · Movie
as Self
Parkinson
1998 · TV Show
as Self
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
1996 · TV Show
as Self
Private Screenings
1996 · TV Show
as Self
That's Entertainment! III
1994 · Movie
as Self - Co-Host / Narrator
MGM: When the Lion Roars
1992 · TV Show
No image
Stars and Stripes: Hollywood and World War II
1991 · Movie
as Self
No image
Pebble Mill
1991 · TV Show
as Self
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Burt Reynolds' Conversations with...
1991 · TV Show
as Self
Dance Crazy in Hollywood
1990 · Movie
as Self - Actress (archive footage)
Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash
1990 · Movie
as Self
Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood
1987 · Movie
as Self
Night of 100 Stars II
1985 · Movie
as Self
That's Dancing!
1985 · Movie
as From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)
That's Entertainment, Part II
1976 · Movie
as (archive footage)
That's Entertainment!
1974 · Movie
as (archive footage) (uncredited)
Hollywood: The Dream Factory
1972 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
Magic Fountain
1963 · Movie
as Hyacinth Tower
The Big Show
1961 · Movie
as Hillary Allen
No image
The Big Party
1959 · TV Show
as Self
Raw Wind in Eden
1958 · Movie
as Laura
Andy Hardy Comes Home
1958 · Movie
as Sheila Brooks (archive footage) (uncredited)
The Donna Reed Show
1958 · TV Show
as Molly Duncan
The Unguarded Moment
1956 · Movie
as Lois Conway
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show
1956 · TV Show
as Self
Dick Powell's Zane Grey Theatre
1956 · TV Show
as Sarah Harmon
The Steve Allen Show
1956 · TV Show
as Self - Swimmer
Jupiter's Darling
1955 · Movie
as Amytis
MGM Parade
1955 · TV Show
as Self - Water Ballerina in 'Ziegfeld Follies' (archive footage)
No image
The Jimmy Durante Show
1954 · TV Show
as Self
Reflets de Cannes
1954 · TV Show
as Self
Easy to Love
1953 · Movie
as Julie Hallerton
Dangerous When Wet
1953 · Movie
as Katy Higgins
The Oscars
1953 · TV Show
as Self
Million Dollar Mermaid
1952 · Movie
as Annette Kellerman
Skirts Ahoy!
1952 · Movie
as Whitney Young
Omnibus
1952 · TV Show
Texas Carnival
1951 · Movie
as Debbie Telford
Callaway Went Thataway
1951 · Movie
as Esther Williams (uncredited)
Pagan Love Song
1950 · Movie
as Mimi Bennett
Duchess of Idaho
1950 · Movie
as Christine Riverton Duncan
The Costume Designer
1950 · Movie
as Self (archive footage)
No image
Screen Actors
1950 · Movie
as Self (uncredited)
No image
Lux Video Theatre
1950 · TV Show
as Vicki
What's My Line?
1950 · TV Show
as Self
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
1949 · Movie
as K.C. Higgins
Neptune's Daughter
1949 · Movie
as Eve Barrett
On an Island with You
1948 · Movie
as Rosalind Rennolds
The Ed Sullivan Show
1948 · TV Show
as Self
Fiesta
1947 · Movie
as Maria Morales
This Time for Keeps
1947 · Movie
as Nora Cambaretti
Easy to Wed
1946 · Movie
as Connie Allenbury
Till the Clouds Roll By
1946 · Movie
as Esther Williams - Signing Autographs (uncredited)
The Hoodlum Saint
1946 · Movie
as Kay Lorrison
Thrill of a Romance
1945 · Movie
as Cynthia Glenn
Ziegfeld Follies
1945 · Movie
as Esther Williams (segment "A Water Ballet")
Parade of Aquatic Champions
1945 · Movie
as Herself
A Guy Named Joe
1944 · Movie
as Ellen Bright
Bathing Beauty
1944 · Movie
as Caroline Brooks
Twenty Years After
1944 · Movie
as (archive footage)
Andy Hardy's Double Life
1942 · Movie
as Sheila Brooks
Inflation
1942 · Movie
as Mrs. Smith
No image
Personalities
1942 · Movie
as Sheila Brooks (screen test footage) (uncredited)
