Classic Movie Goddess of the Month - Esther Williams: Part One (Facts and Trivia)

Here are some interesting facts about Esther Williams:

Date of Birth: 8 August 1921 Los Angeles, CA

Birth Name: Ester Jane Williams

Height: 5'8 1/2"

Esther Williams' youth was spent as a teenage swimming champion. She eventually was spotted by a MGM talent scout while working in a Los Angeles department store.
She made her film debut with MGM in a 1942 "Andy Hardy" picture called Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942).
 
After this movie, MGM created a sub-genre specifically for her, the aqua musical and they were huge hits during the 40's.
 

She was married 4 times including once to actor Fernando Lamas.
 
In the 1950s she was known as "America's Mermaid."




Before her stint in MGM musicals, she had been training as a competitive swimmer, and probably would've participated in the 1940 and/or 1944 Olympics (she would've been 18 and 22 years old respectively) if World War II hadn't canceled them.


Longtime friend of June Allyson.

Her first job was at age 8 at a local Inglewood, California neighborhood school's swimming pool counting towels.




Was inducted into the Swimming Pool Hall of Fame in 1967.




She lent her name to a brand of swimming pools that are still sold today, Esther Williams Pools.




She was offered roles in both The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974) by Irwin Allen. She turned down both.