Difference between revisions of "Esther Williams" - New World Encyclopedia

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'''Esther Jane Williams''' (born August 8, 1922) was a United States competitive swimmer and 1940s and 50s movie star. She was famous for her musical films that featured elaborate performances with swimming and diving, which later came to be known as synchronized swimming. She was injured many times during filming and was exploited by both men and the industry. Her personal life was complicated by her career, especially when it came to her children. Nonetheless, Williams embraced her role as an actress, as well as her roles as wife and mother. She now lives in California with her fourth husband and has a line of women's swimwear.
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'''Esther Jane Williams''' (born August 8, 1922) was a United States competitive swimmer and 1940s and 50s movie star. Known as "America's Mermaid," she was famous for her musical films that featured elaborate performances with swimming and diving, which later came to be known as synchronized swimming.  However, her role in the creation of the genre of the aquatic muical did not come without hard times. She was injured many times during filming and was exploited by both men and the industry. Her personal life was complicated by her career, especially when it came to her children. Nonetheless, Williams embraced her role as an actress, as well as her roles as wife and mother. She now lives in California with her fourth husband and has a line of women's swimwear.
  
 
[[Image:EstherWilliamsMGMCard.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|Esther Williams]]
 
[[Image:EstherWilliamsMGMCard.jpg|thumbnail|250px|right|Esther Williams]]
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=== Acting ===
 
=== Acting ===
  
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Many of her films, such as ''Million Dollar Mermaid'' and ''Jupiter's Darling'', contained elaborately staged synchronized swimming scenes, obtained not without physical cost to the performer. She broke her neck filming a 50 ft (15 m) dive off a tower during a climactic musical number for the [[1952]] release ''Million Dollar Mermaid'' which landed her in a body cast for six months. She subsequently recovered, though she still suffers headaches as a result of the accident. Her many hours spent submerged resulted in her rupturing her [[eardrum]]s numerous times. In her [[autobiography]], Williams details several other occasions in which she nearly drowned shooting her oxygen-defying stunts; she rarely used a [[stunt double]].
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Williams began her acting career when she starred in ''Aquacade'' at the San Francisco World Fair.<ref>Ibid., 144</ref>  She was left dissatisfied, as she experienced sexual harassment, dishonesty and selfishness during the show.<ref>‘’ESTHER WILLIAMS,’' 2.</ref> Hence, she initially rejected show business but was persuaded to sign a contract with MGM.<ref> Williams, Esther and Digby Diehl, ‘The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography,’’ 61-62.</ref> MGM served as a “finishing school” for Williams, where she studied manner and pronunciation, acting, singing and dancing.<ref>Ibid., 73-74.</ref>  She starred in ''Bathing Beauty,'' which was Hollywood’s first film with swimming as the main selling point and was a huge financial success.<ref>‘’ESTHER WILLIAMS,’' 3.</ref> As her films became more popular, her stunts became more dangerous. Since she was her own stuntwoman, she suffered serious injuries, including a near drowning, broken eardrums and, worst of all, a broken back.  During the filming of her most famous film ''Million Dollar Mermaid,'' she broke three vertebrae and was left in a full body cast for six months. Despite the excitement about her films, they films became predictable and her roles formulaic as she continually played a happy, beautiful, innocent woman.<ref>Ibid., 4</ref> Though she won a Golden Globe in 1953 for ''Million Dollar Mermaid,'' Williams’ acting skills were limited<ref>
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''Esther Williams (I).'' [http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0930565/maindetails] (Retrieved May 23, 2007),1-2.</ref> and she was unsuccessful without the spectacle of synchronized swimming.
  
 
== Personal life ==
 
== Personal life ==

Revision as of 06:23, 28 May 2007

Esther Jane Williams (born August 8, 1922) was a United States competitive swimmer and 1940s and 50s movie star. Known as "America's Mermaid," she was famous for her musical films that featured elaborate performances with swimming and diving, which later came to be known as synchronized swimming. However, her role in the creation of the genre of the aquatic muical did not come without hard times. She was injured many times during filming and was exploited by both men and the industry. Her personal life was complicated by her career, especially when it came to her children. Nonetheless, Williams embraced her role as an actress, as well as her roles as wife and mother. She now lives in California with her fourth husband and has a line of women's swimwear.

File:EstherWilliamsMGMCard.jpg
Esther Williams

Early years

The youngest of five children, Williams was born in Los Angeles, California and was raised by her sister Maurine during the Great Depression. [1] Her brother Stanton was expected to be the family’s chance to get out of poverty, however he died when she was only eight.[2] Next, Williams began swimming and quickly became a distinguished competitor and set new swimming records.[3]

Career

Swimming

By the time Williams was 16, she had won three national championships and was headed for the 1940 Olympics, which were cancelled due to World War II.[4] Thus, she left competitive swimming to appear in movies that later lead to her recognition as the “'Godmother’ of synchronized swimming." [5] In 1966, she was inducted into the International Swimming and Diving Hall of Fame for her outstanding swimming.[6]

Acting

Williams began her acting career when she starred in Aquacade at the San Francisco World Fair.[7] She was left dissatisfied, as she experienced sexual harassment, dishonesty and selfishness during the show.[8] Hence, she initially rejected show business but was persuaded to sign a contract with MGM.[9] MGM served as a “finishing school” for Williams, where she studied manner and pronunciation, acting, singing and dancing.[10] She starred in Bathing Beauty, which was Hollywood’s first film with swimming as the main selling point and was a huge financial success.[11] As her films became more popular, her stunts became more dangerous. Since she was her own stuntwoman, she suffered serious injuries, including a near drowning, broken eardrums and, worst of all, a broken back. During the filming of her most famous film Million Dollar Mermaid, she broke three vertebrae and was left in a full body cast for six months. Despite the excitement about her films, they films became predictable and her roles formulaic as she continually played a happy, beautiful, innocent woman.[12] Though she won a Golden Globe in 1953 for Million Dollar Mermaid, Williams’ acting skills were limited[13] and she was unsuccessful without the spectacle of synchronized swimming.

Personal life

Her love life was a source of media interest. She has been married four times. From 1945 to 1958, she was married to singer/actor Ben Gage, with whom she had three children. In her autobiography, she portrays him as an alcoholic parasite who squandered her earnings. She also disclosed in her autobiography that she had a passionate affair with actor Victor Mature while they were working on the film Million Dollar Mermaid (1952), 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. She was romantically linked with Jeff Chandler, but broke off the relationship because she discovered he was a cross-dresser. Her third husband was actor Fernando Lamas (1969–1982).

Current work

Esther Williams retired from acting in the early 1960s and lives with her current husband, Edward Bell, in Beverly Hills. She lends her name to a brand of swimming pools and a line of classic women's swimwear based on the full-cut swimsuit designs from her films.[14] She still swims everyday.

Filmography

  • Personalities (1942) (uncredited | short subject)
  • Inflation (1942) (short subject)
  • Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942)
  • A Guy Named Joe (1943)
  • Bathing Beauty (1944)
  • Thrill of a Romance (1945)
  • Ziegfeld Follies (1946)
  • The Hoodlum Saint (1946)
  • Easy to Wed (1946)
  • Till the Clouds Roll By (1946) (cameo | uncredited)
  • Fiesta (1947)
  • This Time for Keeps (1947)
  • On an Island with You (1948)
  • Take Me Out to the Ball Game (1949)
  • Neptune's Daughter (1949)
  • Screen Actors (1950) (short subject)
  • Duchess of Idaho (1950)
  • Pagan Love Song (1950)
  • Texas Carnival (1951)
  • Callaway Went Thataway (1951) (cameo)
  • Skirts Ahoy! (1952)
  • Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
  • Dangerous When Wet (1953)
  • Easy to Love (1953)
  • 1955 Motion Picture Theatre Celebration (1955) (short subject)
  • Jupiter's Darling (1955)
  • Screen Snapshots: Hollywood, City of Stars (1956) (short subject)
  • The Unguarded Moment (1956)
  • The Armed Venus "Lux Video Theatre" (1 television episode, 1957)
  • Raw Wind in Eden (1958)
  • The Black Wagon "Zane Grey Theater" (1 television episode, 1960)
  • The Big Show (1961)
  • The Magic Fountain (1963)
  • "Querida Concha" (1 television episode, 1993)
  • That's Entertainment! III (1994) (narrator)

Notes

  1. ↑ Williams, Esther and Digby Diehl, The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), 20.
  2. ↑ Ibid., 15.
  3. ↑ ESTHER WILLIAMS [1](Retrieved May 22, 2007), 1.
  4. ↑ Sherrow, Victoria, Encyclopedia of Women and Sports (Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1996), 332.
  5. ↑ "Esther Williams," Biography 7, No. 11 (2003), 31.
  6. ↑ Sherrow, Victoria, Encyclopedia of Women and Sports,” 144, 332.
  7. ↑ Ibid., 144
  8. ↑ ‘’ESTHER WILLIAMS,’' 2.
  9. ↑ Williams, Esther and Digby Diehl, ‘The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography,’’ 61-62.
  10. ↑ Ibid., 73-74.
  11. ↑ ‘’ESTHER WILLIAMS,’' 3.
  12. ↑ Ibid., 4
  13. ↑ Esther Williams (I). [2] (Retrieved May 23, 2007),1-2.
  14. ↑ The Official Esther Williams Website. "A Short Bio on Esther Williams" http://www.esther-williams.com/bio.htm (Retrieved May 22, 2007), 2.

Further reading

  • Sherrow, Victoria. Encyclopedia of Women and Sports. Santa Barbara: ABC-CLIO, 1996. ISBN 9780874368260.
  • Young, Nancy K. and William H. Young. The 1950s: American Popular Culture Through History. Westport : Conn Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 9780313323935.
  • Williams, Esther and Digby Diehl The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999. ISBN 9780684852843 .

External links

  • Rompalske, Dorothy. "Hollywood Mermaid Esther Williams." Biography 4, No. 7 (2000): 76-82. [3] ISSN: 1092-7891
  • "Esther Williams." Biography 7, No. 11 (2003): 31. [4] ISSN: 1092-7891.
  • Esther Williams (I). [5] Retrieved May 23, 2007.
  • ESTHER WILLIAMS. [6] Retrieved May 22, 2007.
  • Esther Williams at Reel Classics. [7] Retrieved May 22, 2007.
  • The Official Esther Williams Website. [8] Retrieved May 22, 2007.

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