Thursday, June 06, 2013

Esther Williams, Hollywood's "Million-Dollar" Mermaid, R.I.P.

Esther Williams, a teenage swimming champion who went on to become a major motion-picture star in watery Hollywood extravaganzas in the 1940s and '50s, passed away Thursday morning in her sleep at Beverly Hills, California at age 91.

From "Bathing Beauty" in 1944 to "Jupiter's Darling" in 1955, Miss Williams swam in Technicolor lakes, lagoons, oceans, and swimming pools.

Esther had first been hired by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer as a contract player some three years after 20 Century-Fox had signed up three-time Olympic gold-medal-winning skater Sonja Henie and successfully made a star out of her.

Esther was one of the last major stars from Hollywood's Golden Age who was still with us.

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