Biography
Esther Jane Williams 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, then with Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film, and with 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.
Source: Wikipedia · CC BY-SA
Awards & recognition
- International Swimming Hall of Fame
- star on Hollywood Walk of Fame
Filmography23 titles
That's Entertainment!
That's Entertainment! III
That's Entertainment, Part II
What's My Line?
That's Dancing!
The Ed Sullivan Show
Lux Video Theatre
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
A Guy Named Joe
The Donna Reed Show
Million Dollar Mermaid
Easy to Wed
Easy to Love
Neptune's Daughter
Dangerous When Wet
Ziegfeld Follies
On an Island with You
Skirts Ahoy!
Till the Clouds Roll By
Texas Carnival
Pagan Love Song
Andy Hardy's Double Life
The Fabulous Allan Carr