Esther Williams

American actress and swimmer who, as a professional swimming champ, became an aquatic leading lady in many extravaganzas in the '50s and '60s, a total of 26 movies, mostly when wet. Williams' films include "Easy To Love," 1953 and "Jupiter's Darling," 1954. For her 1953 movie, "Million Dollar Mermaid," she won a Golden Globe Award as well as a broken neck. During filming she was required to wear an aluminum tiara, causing three of her vertebra to snap upon impact when she hit the water. She spent six months in a body cast. Esther was the fifth child of Bula and Louis Williams. By age eight she discovered her natural affinity for the water and by 18, had won three national championships and was on her way to the Olympics. Her hopes were dashed by the rise of Adolph Hitler and the cancellation of the games in 1940 and 1944. She took a job, instead, with the Billy Rose Aquacade attraction at the 1939 San Francisco World's Fair. For a day job, she was a salesgirl and part-time model. In 1942, Louis B. Mayer started her in show biz with her first small parts. Two years later, "America's Mermaid" began the first of a series of aquatic musicals. Williams made four stormy marriages; the first in 1940 to a student, Leonard Kovner, who objected to his wife having a movie career. She and her second husband, business Ben Gage had three kids in their 14 years together during which Gage pretty well went through all the money she made with his bad investments, drinking and gambling, leaving her with $750,000 in debt to the IRS. In 1961 she left the movies to marry her third husband, Fernando Lamas, a vain and possessive Latin who would not allow her three kids in the house. The marriage lasted 21 years until she was widowed in 1982. Williams set about to mend the damaged relationship with her kids and regain control of her life. She filled the void by producing two films and a video on teaching infants to swim. Her fourth marriage was to actor Ed Bell in October 1984; they work together in the design and manufacture of a line of swim wear. Happy with Ed, she credited her Science of Mind for her positive approach to life. She continued to swim every day. On 7 February 1999 she was admitted into hospital with a lung congestion, an irregular heartbeat and high blood pressure. In late 1998 she had broken four ribs and punctured a lung in a fall down stairs, and has undergone knee-replacement surgery and still has neck pain from an old diving accident. She left the hospital eight days later, ready to eat away from hospital food and ready to promote her autobiography "The Million Dollar Mermaid," published September 1999. Esther Williams died in her sleep on 6 June 2013 from natural causes at her Los Angeles home. She was 91. Link to Wikipedia biography