Acting
Aug 7, 1921
Inglewood, California, USA
Esther Williams
Acting
Biography
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.
Feature Films (52)
The Wolves baseball team gets steamed when they find they've been inherited by one K.C. Higgins, a suspected "fathead" who intends to take an active interest in running the team. But K.C. turns outs to be a beautiful woman who really knows her baseball. Second baseman Dennis Ryan promptly falls in love. But his playboy roommate Eddie O'Brien has his own notions about how to treat the new lady owner and some unsavory gamblers have their own ideas about how to handle Eddie.
Take Me Out to the Ball Game
A cocky U.S. Army Air Force pilot stationed in England during World War II falls for a daring female flier. After he's killed on a mission, he's sent back to Earth by a heavenly General with a new assignment.
A Guy Named Joe
Andy is about to head off to college but he's got a few things to take care of before leaving. For starters, he must try and sell his junk car for $20 to pay for a bill and he must convince his father not to go with him to college. Worst of all is that Polly wants to make up but her best friend decides to give Andy a test.
Andy Hardy's Double Life
Television & Series (19)
The Rosie O'Donnell Show was an American daytime television talk show hosted and produced by actress and comedian Rosie O'Donnell. It aired for six seasons from 1996 to 2002. Topics often discussed on the show include Broadway, children, extended families and charitable works, people and organizations. The show was based out of Studio 8G at NBC's Rockefeller Center studios in New York City, NY, USA and was produced and syndicated by KidRo Productions, Telepictures Productions and Warner Bros. Television.
The Rosie O'Donnell Show
Turner Classic Movies host Robert Osborne interviews noted personalities from the Golden Age of Hollywood.
Private Screenings
Lux Video Theatre is an American anthology series that was produced from 1950 until 1959. The series presented both comedy and drama in original teleplays, as well as abridged adaptations of films and plays.
Lux Video Theatre
Revolves around typical family problems, such as firing a clumsy housekeeper, throwing a retirement bash for a colleague, and finding quality time away from the children.
The Donna Reed Show
The Dinah Shore Chevy Show is an American variety series hosted by Dinah Shore, and broadcast on NBC from October 1956 to June 1963. The series was sponsored by the Chevrolet Motor Division of General Motors and its theme song, sung by Shore, was "See the U.S.A. in Your Chevrolet", which continued to be used in Chevrolet advertising for several more years after the cancellation of the show.
