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Esther Williams Biography

Birth Name:
Esther Jane Williams
Birth Place:
Inglewood, California, United States
Profession
Actor, athlete

Fast Facts

  • Took on her first job at age 8 as a towel girl at a local swimming pool
  • Was a champion swimmer, and qualified for the 1940 U
  • S
  • Olympic team, though the games were canceled when WWII broke out
  • Broke into show business opposite Johnny Weismuller in the San Francisco Aquacade, an aquatic-themed stage musical review
  • Has had successful licensing agreements for a number of products, lending her own brand name to swimming pools and swimsuits
  • Retired from film in the early '60s at the insistence of her then-husband Fernando Lamas
  • Wrote her autobiography, Million Dollar Mermaid, in 1999 with co-author Digby Diehl

Relationships