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