Esther Williams
- Schauspiel
- 8. August 1921 · Inglewood, California, USA
- 6. Juni 2013
Biografie
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.
Bekannt aus
Filmografie
- Esther Williams - Hollywoods Meerjungfrau · Selbst
- The Fabulous Allan Carr · Selbst
- Listen to Me Marlon · Selbst
- Hollywood Legenden · Selbst
- Busby Berkeley: Going Through the Roof · Selbst
- Gene Kelly: Anatomy of a Dancer · Selbst
- The Original Mermaid · Selbst
- Hollywood Musicals of the 40's · Selbst
- Glorious Technicolor · Selbst
- Parkinson · Selbst
- The Rosie O'Donnell Show · Selbst
- Private Screenings · Selbst
- That's Entertainment! III · Selbst
- MGM: When the Lion Roars
- Stars and Stripes: Hollywood and World War II · Selbst
- Pebble Mill · Selbst
- Burt Reynolds' Conversations with... · Selbst
- Tom & Jerry's 50th Birthday Bash · Selbst
- Dance Crazy in Hollywood · Selbst
- Happy 100th Birthday, Hollywood · Selbst
- Night of 100 Stars II · Selbst
- That's Dancing! · From 'Bathing Beauty' (archive footage)
- Das gibt’s nie wieder II · (archive footage)
- Das gibt's nie wieder · (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Hollywood: The Dream Factory · Selbst
- La fuente mágica · Hyacinth Tower
- Die große Attraktion · Hillary Allen
- The Big Party · Selbst
- Andy Hardy Comes Home · Sheila Brooks (archive footage) (uncredited)
- Mutter ist die allerbeste · Molly Duncan
- Sturm über Eden · Laura
- In den Fängen des Teufels · Lois Conway
- The Dinah Shore Chevy Show · Selbst
- Abenteuer im wilden Westen · Sarah Harmon
- The Steve Allen Show · Selbst
- MGM Parade · Selbst
- Jupiters Liebling · Amytis
- The Jimmy Durante Show · Selbst
- Reflets de Cannes · Selbst
- Du bist so leicht zu lieben · Julie Hallerton
- Die Wasserprinzessin · Katy Higgins
- Oscar Verleihung · Selbst
- Die goldene Nixe · Annette Kellerman
- Omnibus
- Skirts Ahoy! · Whitney Young
- Der Cowboy, den es zweimal gab · Esther Williams (uncredited)
- Karneval in Texas · Debbie Telford
- Pagan Love Song · Mimi Bennett
- Lux Video Theatre · Vicki
- Die Venus verliebt sich · Christine Riverton Duncan
- The Costume Designer · Selbst
- Screen Actors · Selbst
- What's My Line? · Selbst
- Neptuns Tochter · Eve Barrett
- Spiel zu dritt · K.C. Higgins
- The Ed Sullivan Show · Selbst
- Auf einer Insel mit Dir · Rosalind Rennolds
- Bezaubernde Lippen · Nora Cambaretti
- Mexikanische Nächte · Maria Morales
- Bis die Wolken vorüberzieh'n · Esther Williams - Signing Autographs (uncredited)
- Eine Falle für die Braut · Connie Allenbury
- The Hoodlum Saint · Kay Lorrison
- Ziegfelds himmlische Träume · Esther Williams (segment "A Water Ballet")
- Parade of Aquatic Champions · Selbst
- Flitterwochen zu dritt · Cynthia Glenn
- Badende Venus · Caroline Brooks
- Kampf in den Wolken · Ellen Bright
- Twenty Years After · (archive footage)
- Andy Hardy's Double Life · Sheila Brooks
- Inflation · Mrs. Smith
- Personalities · Sheila Brooks (screen test footage) (uncredited)