CUT THE RIBBON, ESTHER JANE WILLIAMS
Posted on June 10, 2013 by admin
She really did cut a watery ribbon! Esther Jane Williams, the million dollar star, the competitive swimmer and movie actress. Known for her beauty, class and swimming records, she was queen of acqua musicals, featuring in many elaborate performances of synchronized swimming and diving. Williams was enthusiastic about swimming in her youth and when she became an actress, elaborate aquatic sets were in fact built for her. Williams’s fame and her scant clothing, led her to see the machinery of Hollywood sharply, the lust, the greed, the vanity. Named “The Mermaid” by Clarke Gable, she was also known for being the queen of Hollywood’s gossip. Her 1999 memoir, The Million Dollar Mermaid, she dished the dirt as few others had, by being shameless, and shamelessly funny. We will all miss her badly. She is survived by her family and by us all, a sparkling star of the real Golden Hollywood era.
“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t in a swimsuit. There were all those hours and weeks and years of competitive swimming-and magic movie swimming” Esther
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