Esther Williams Wiki, Biography, Age, Spouse, Height, Net Worth, Fast Facts

Every year from 1945 to 1949, Williams had at least one film among the 20 highest-grossing films of the year. In 1952, Williams appeared in her only biographical role, as Australian swimming star Annette Kellerman in Million Dollar Mermaid, which went on to become her nickname while she was at MGM. Williams left MGM in 1956 and appeared in a handful of unsuccessful feature films, followed by several extremely popular water-themed network television specials, including one from Cypress Gardens, Florida.

Williams was also a successful businesswoman. Before retiring from acting, she invested in a “service station, a metal products plant, a manufacturer of bathing suits, various properties and a successful restaurant chain known as Trails.”^[8] She lent her name to a line of swimming pools, retro swimwear, and instructional swimming videos for children, and served as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Esther Williams Wiki, Biography,

Esther Jane Williams was born on August 8, 1921, in Inglewood, California. She was the fifth and youngest child of Louis Stanton Williams (January 19, 1886  – June 10, 1968) and Bula Myrtle (née Gilpin; October 8, 1885 – December 29, 1971). The two lived on neighboring farms in Kansas and carried on a nine-year courtship until June 1, 1908, when they eloped and set off for California. However, they ran out of money in Salt Lake City, Utah, and settled there. Esther’s brother, Stanton (September 4, 1912 – March 3, 1929) was discovered by actress Marjorie Rambeau, which led to the family (including sisters Maurine and June, and brother David) moving to the Los Angeles area to be near the studios. Louis Williams purchased a small piece of land in the southwest area of town and had a small house built there. Esther was born in the living room, which was also where the family slept until Louis Williams was able to add bedrooms. In 1929, Stanton Williams died after his colon burst. He was 16 years old.

In 1935, Bula Myrtle Williams invited 16-year-old Buddy McClure to live with her family. McClure had recently lost his mother and Bula was still grieving over the death of her son, Stanton. Esther recounted in her autobiography that one night, when the rest of the family was visiting relatives in Alhambra, McClure raped her. She was terrified to tell anyone about the incident and waited two years before finally revealing the truth to her parents. Williams’ mother seemed unsure about her story, claiming McClure was “sensitive” and felt sympathetic towards him when he admitted his guilt. However, Bula Williams then banished him from her home. McClure joined the United States Coast Guard, and Williams never saw him again.

Personal life

Political views

Williams was a registered Republican.

Marriages

Williams married four times. She met her first husband, Leonard Kovner, while attending Los Angeles City College. She later wrote in her autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid that “he was smart, handsome, dependable … and dull. I respected his intelligence, and his dedication to a future career in medicine. He loved me, or so he said, and even asked me to marry him.” They were married in the San Francisco suburb of Los Altos on June 27, 1940. On their split she said “I found, much to my relief, that all I needed for my emotional and personal security was my own resolve and determination. I didn’t need a marriage and a ring. I had come to realize all too quickly that Leonard Kovner was not a man I could ever really love.” They divorced on September 12, 1944.

She married singer/actor Ben Gage on November 25, 1945; they had three children, Benjamin Stanton (born August 6, 1949),  Kimball Austin (October 30, 1950 – May 6, 2008) and Susan Tenney (born October 1, 1953).^[85] In her autobiography, she portrayed Gage as an alcoholic parasite who squandered $10 million of her earnings. Gage and Williams separated in 1952, and divorced in April 1959.

During the filming of Pagan Love Song in Hawaii, Williams learned she was pregnant with her third child, and notified the studio in California. Gage had met a man at the hotel who owned a ham radio and persuaded the man to let them use it to call California. What they failed to realize at the time, though, was that anyone could be listening in on their conversation, and news of her pregnancy was broadcast to the entire West Coast.

She disclosed in her autobiography that she had an affair with actor Victor Mature while they were working on Million Dollar Mermaid, citing that at the time her marriage was in trouble and, feeling lonely, she turned to Mature for love and affection, and he gave her all she wanted. The affair stopped while Williams was recovering from her fall during the shooting of Million Dollar Mermaid. She was romantically linked with Jeff Chandler. She claims in her autobiography that Chandler was a cross-dresser and that she broke off the relationship. According to the Los Angeles Times, many friends and colleagues of Chandler’s rebutted Williams’ claims. Jane Russell commented, “I’ve never heard of such a thing. Cross-dressing is the last thing I would expect of Jeff. He was a sweet guy, definitely all man.”

She married her former lover, Argentine actor/director, Fernando Lamas on December 31, 1969. She later claimed that for 13 years she lived in total submission to him. She had to stop being “Esther Williams” and could not have her children live with her. In return, he would be faithful. Nonetheless, they remained married until Lamas’s death from pancreatic cancer on October 8, 1982.

She resided in Beverly Hills with actor husband Edward Bell, whom she married on October 24, 1994.

LSD

In September 1959, Cary Grant told Look magazine that he had taken LSD under a doctor’s supervision, and it had changed his life. Grant’s therapist, Mortimer Hartman, described LSD as “a psychic energizer which empties the subconscious and intensifies emotion and memory a hundred times”. Grant said that, with the help of LSD, he had “found that [he] had a tough inner core of strength”, and that when he was young, he “was very dependent upon older men and women. Now, people [came] to [him] for help.” Williams stated that she wanted to be one of those people. As she said in Million Dollar Mermaid, “At that point, I really didn’t know who I was. Was I that glamorous femme fatale? … Was I just another broken-down divorcée whose husband left her with all the bills and three kids?” Shortly after reading the article, she contacted Grant. He called his doctor and made an appointment for her. Williams said LSD seemed like instant psychoanalysis.^[95]

Death and legacy

Esther Williams died in her sleep on June 6, 2013, from natural causes, in her Los Angeles home. She was 91. She was cremated, and her ashes were scattered in the Pacific Ocean.

On her death, CNN quoted her International Swimming Hall of Fame biography, saying, “Her movie career played a major role in the promotion of swimming, making it attractive to the public, contributing to the growth of the sport as a public recreation for health, exercise, water safety – and just plain fun.”^[16] Her stepson Lorenzo Lamas tweeted she was “The best swim teacher and soul mom.” Her friend Annabeth Gish also tweeted a tribute, writing that Esther Williams was “An elegant, gracious movie star, legend and neighbor”. Film historian Leonard Maltin called her “a major, major star, a tremendous box office attraction.”

For her contribution to the motion-picture industry, Williams has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 1560 Vine Street. She left her hand and footprints in front of the Grauman’s Chinese Theatre on August 1, 1944.

Williams was mentioned in the “Court Charades” sketch in the 1970 Monty Python’s Flying Circus episode “The Spanish Inquisition” where Eric Idle mentions her to which Graham Chapman responds “How can you find the defendant ‘Not Esther Williams’?”

In Katie Crouch’s 2021 novel, “Embassy Wife,” the embassy wife Persephone Wilder is compared to Esther Williams when describing the character’s enthusiasm as a government spouse.

Scarlett Johansson’s character, DeeAnna Moran in the 2016 Coen Brothers film, Hail, Caesar!, shares several similarities with Williams, most notably being an aquamusical star who becomes pregnant during production.

Archive

Esther Williams donated her personal film archive, including twenty home movies, to the Academy Film Archive. The Academy Film Archive has subsequently preserved several of these home movies.