Merry Christmas from Esther!

Such a colorful greeting from Esther...

Esther Williams Lovely Fall Photo

Esther looks so stunning in this very bright and colorful pic..

Box Office Attractions - ESTHER WILLIAMS

I recently started a new series called Box Office Attractions that focuses on one star at a time and show when they were at their most successful in their careers. I did Doris Day last week and now it's Esther Williams. I know these two posts will make my friend and co-blogger Dawn very happy.

Esther Williams had a superlative record at the box office. She wasn't America's Mermaid for nothing. Most of her films were huge hits. And from 1945 to 1950, she yielded at least one top 20 hit each year. Here's the breakdown below:

THRILL OF A ROMANCE (1945) Film rank that year: (8) Box office earnings: $4.3 million

EASY TO WED (1946) Film rank that year: (15) Box office earnings: $4.0 million

THIS TIME FOR KEEPS (1947) Film rank that year: (16) Box office earnings: $3.6 million

FIESTA (1947) Film rank that year: (20) Box office earnings: $3.5 million

ON AN ISLAND WITH YOU (1948) Film rank that year: (18) Box office earnings: $3.2 million

NEPTUNE'S DAUGHTER (1949) Film rank that year: (10) Box office earnings: $3.5 million

TAKE ME OUT TO THE BALLGAME (1949) Film rank that year: (11) Box office earnings: $3.4 million

DUCHESS OF IDAH0 (1950) Film rank that year: (19) Box office earnings: $2.6 million

And while she didn't place anymore films in the top 20 after 1950, Esther still had several more successful films including Skirts Ahoy! (1952), Million Dollar Mermaid (1952), and Dangerous When Wet (1953).

All figures supplied by Box Office Report at http://www.boxofficereport.com/

Esther clowning around...

Happy Birthday Esther...great photos of the living legend

Esther Williams Facts

Youngest of five children. The others were Stanton, June, Maurine and David.
She was offered roles in both The Poseidon Adventure (1972) and The Towering Inferno (1974) by Irwin Allen. She turned down both.

Stepmother of Lorenzo Lamas.

Three step-children, from Lamas: Cristina, Alexandra "Alex," and Lorenzo.
Her son, Kim, was injured in a motorcycle accident. Both of his legs were shattered and he had to relearn how to walk.

She has two grandchildren, Austin and Erin, from her son Ben. She has a grandson, Thomas, from her daughter Susie.
Was the national champion in the 100 meter freestyle and was a favorite to make the 1940 Olympic team. Unfortunately, she missed her opportunity due to the outbreak of World War II.

Esther Williams was an advisor to the International Olympic Committee at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles for the new sport of Synchronized Swimming.

Children: Benjamin, Kimball and Susan.

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


Son Benjamin Stanton "Ben" Gage was born August 6, 1949.

Son Kimball Austin Gage was born October 30, 1950.

Daughter Susan Tenney "Susie" Gage was born October 1, 1953.

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.
She and teammate Virginia Hopkins were to take part in the 1940 Olympics, which was canceled due to World War II.

Met first husband Leonard Kovner while a student at the University of Southern California. He was a premed student.

Esther Williams Birthday Celebration this week-end....

Hey Dawn,

I figured we get the birthday celebration started early for our girl Esther. Here are some great pics to get us going.

A Comparison Between Esther Williams and Estella Warren

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). She became Mickey Rooney's love interest in the movie, and her character was called "Sheila Brooks".

Following this short movie, stardom was not far away. MGM created a special sub-genre for her known as "Aqua Musicals". Her first swimming role was in Bathing Beauty (1944). "Bathing Beauty" was a simple movie compared to her later big splashes such as Million Dollar Mermaid (1952). Esther Williams was often called "America's Mermaid", as it appeared that she could stay underwater forever!

Estella Warren was a synchronized swimmer from the age of seven until 17 in her native Canada. She moved away from home at 12 to train for the Canadian National Team. She was the Canadian National Champion for three years and represented her country at the World Aquatic Championship, where she placed second. A talent scout who came to a charity high school fashion show in which she appeared was impressed enough with her to take a Polaroid of her and send it to a New York City modeling agency. She was almost immediately signed to a modeling contract, and eventually appeared in "Sports Illustrated", "Vogue", "Vanity Fair". Estella soon began appearing in films such as Driven, Planet Of The Apes, Kangaroo Jack and The Cooler. And it was on the director's ability to squeeze in a swimming scene at some point in most of her movies.

I just thought it was cool to compare these two lovely women who were great swimmers that became movie stars. And it's kinda of weird that they both have the same initials in their name EW, both are swimmers, and both are actresses. What do you think Dawn?

Esther Williams By The Pool

Donna Reed and Esther Williams hanging out....

Hey Dawn,

Since Donna Reed will be my classic movie goddess next month, I found this pic of her and Esther Williams chatting it up outside the ladies room. Wondering what they were talking about. It seems Donna can't believe it and Esther is trying to say let's keep our fingers crossed. Anyway I thought it made for a great picture. Have a great night.

Personal quotes by Esther Williams

Esther Williams Photos
I was called America's mermaid, because it appeared that I could stay underwater indefinitely.

All they ever did for me at MGM was change my leading man and the water in my pool.

No one had ever done a swimming movie before so we just made it up as we went along. I ad-libbed all my own underwater movements.

I don't know to this day how I managed to fit into those bathing suits when I was pregnant, but I did.

"The popular "Andy Hardy" series movies were MGM's tests for its promising stars such as Judy Garland, Lana Turner, and Donna Reed. If you didn't make it in those pictures, you were never heard from again".

[International Swimming Hall of Fame] "If swimming would make his daughter grow up to look like Esther Williams, then father was willing to pay for the lessons."

"I was just a swimmer who got lucky." (2003)

Summertime with Esther

Is this not the loveliest picture of Esther Williams?
You just can't get more beautiful than that. That's the
thing about the classic movie stars as compared to the stars of today. The classic stars had such grace and beauty and just were way better. I had to post this pic Dawn, it was too good not too. And I plan to watch as many of her movies as possible. Hopefully TCM will show quite a few of them over the summer. And once I get caught up on her wondrous career, I will have to showcase Esther on my blog as a star of the month. May even get you to be a guest contributor that month, if you don't mind. Have a great evening. Talk to ya later.

In The Pursuit Of Love

                                                        IN THE PURSUIT OF LOVE

Hey Dawn,

So here is my fantasy movie had Cary Grant paired up with Esther Williams. The title is In The Pursuit Of Love and Cary plays suave playboy Peter Lassister who refuses to settle down with any one woman. That is until he sees Liz Watson, a model who aspires to be a swimming champion. Peter pursues Liz instantly while trying to avoid the clutches of  rich society girl Ann Pendergast (played by Joan Caulfield). All the while reporter Stu Blanchard (Eddie Albert) is trying to be be the first to get the story on Lassiter finally settling down. Of course Liz has no time for romance as she is busy trying to compete in swimming competitions. And listening to her seen it all best friend Sally (Betty Hutton). Of course things will eventually get sorted by the two leads and they fall in love by the end of the movie. Directed by George Cukor and released in 1950. That's how I would have done it and how I see it in my head. What do you think Dawn? Can you think of a actor who you would have liked to seen with Esther and make up a little story and cast to go along with it. It's pretty cool once you start thinking about and it changes up the pace of posting reviews and bios and regular stuff.

Casting Call...

Hey Dawn,

While going over the list of films of Esther that I have never seen and all her films period, I came up with this idea of creating a what if scenario of films she could have made with co-stars she never worked with during her career. Top of the list for me would be to pair her with my favorite actor, Cary Grant. So to have some fun, I propose we each create a movie with a cast, title, year it would have been made, director, facts, etc just to see what it would have been like. Movie fans are just like actors themselves, wishing they would make a film with a co-star they never have worked with before. This can work with any actor and actress. So I will create the first one and post it on here, hopefully within in the next day or so. Tell me what do you think of this idea? I just thought it would be cool to create something with our favorite stars even though it can never and did happen. But we can dream can't we?

Thanks Dawn...

Just wanted to write a quick post to thank Dawn for inviting me to contribute on The Esther Williams blog she has created. As I told her I've only seen a few of Esther's films but enjoyed them immensely. But I wanted to share my thoughts and reviews of this very talented lady. The handful movies with her that I've seen are Skirts Ahoy, Neptune's Daughter, Million Dollar Mermaid, Dangerous When Wet and I think Easy To Love. So I can at least share my thoughts on those fine films. And I saw on her bio that she is currently alive. She is one of the last few legends of classic cinema that is still with us. That's good news to hear. Anyway, I can't wait to get started after I come back from West Virgina to visit family. And also to start another blog dedicated to screwball comedies. Everyone have a great holiday. See ya in the new year.

Esther Williams Photos