Esther Williams Of Swimming Stardom Dead At 91

Esther Williams, a swimming champion turned actress, dazzled audiences in WWII-era pictures with her swimming prowess, fit body and natural charm on the big screen.

The actress died in her sleep in her home in Beverly Hills, her publicist Harlan Boll announced Thursday morning. She was 91.

She was best known for her roles as a swimmer in major motion pictures, touting success in films such as "Bathing Beauty" of 1944, "Jupiter's Darling" in 1955 and "Dangerous When Wet" in 1953. She was named among the Top 10 box-office stars in both 1949 and 1950, the New York Times reported.

"Esther Williams had one contribution to make to movies -- her magnificent athletic body," Pauline Kael, a prominent film critic, wrote of the swimming star. "And for over 10 years MGM made the most of it, keeping her in clinging, wet bathing suits and hoping the audience would shiver."

Williams was born Aug. 8, 1921 in Los Angeles and was the youngest of five children, born of Lou and Bula Williams. Her brother was a silent film star from a young age, providing most of the money used to take care of the family. He later died of a twisted intenstine at age 16 when Esther was only 8-years old. She learned how to swim that summer with the help of her older sister and lifeguards at the community pool, USA Today reported.

The male lifeguards taught her the butterfly, a stroke primarily used by men at the time. She won three gold metals at the Amateur Athletic Union in 1939, one being for her butterfly stroke in the 300-meter medley relay. Her showing also earned her a spot in the 1940 Olympics set to take place in Helsinki, Finland. Hitler's 1940 invasion of Poland, however, meant the cancellation of the games, erasing her dream of winning an Olympic gold.

She then made her way to Hollywood at only 17, her stardom being described as a "consolation prize" in her 1999 autobiography "The Million Dollar Mermaid." She found success when she was asked to partake in Billy Rose's Aquacade in San Francisco with Johnny Weismuller, the Los Angeles Times reported. She was being pursued by MGM's Louis B. Mayer for roles in films to counter Sonja Henie, a young ice skater bringing in big money for 20th Century Fox. Williams declined multiple times due to the fact that she had no acting experience.

She eventually gave in to Mayer's phone calls and was given a test run alongside Clark Gable, which landed her a contract with MGM. She got another big break when audiences adored her performance as Mickey Rooney's love interest in the 1942 film "Andy Hardy's Double Life." Two years later she recorded another hit with "Bathing Beauty." By this time, the studio built her a $2,500 swimming pool near Stage 30, complete with underwater windows, colored fountains and hydraulic lifts, where she performed extravagant film segments.

After a while, she grew weary of starring in roles dependant on swimming -- the actress once estimated swimming 1,250 miles for MGM roles -- and repeatedly asked for something different. Audiences, however, weren't as fond of her dry-land pictures, such as "The Hoodlum Saint" in 1946 and "The Unguarded Moment" in 1956. Her only exceptionally successful non-swimming role was "Take Me Out To The Ballgame" in 1949, where she praised her time working with choreographer Bubsey Berkeley.

"MGM made money off me, but they never understood the art form," she said years later. "Not until the fifth picture did I even get a choreographer."

Williams' life was marked with four marriages, with two costing her exorbitant amounts of money, from Leonard Kovner, a pre-med student she married at 17, who demanded all $1,500 of what she earned in Aquacade in order to settle the divorce, to singer Ben Gage, who reportedly cost her $10 million by squandering the money on alcohol and gambling, evading taxes until she was indebted to the Internal Revenue Service.

She later married Fernando Lamas, an Argentinian film star who was her co-star in "Dangerous When Wet," and their marriage lasted until he died in 1982. She married Edward Bell, a professor of French literature, six years later.

She is survived by Bell, her children Benjamin Gage and Susan Beardslee; stepchildren Lorenzo Lamas, Tima Alexander Bell and Anthony Bell; three grandchildren; and eight step-grandchildren. Her son Kim Gage died in 2008.

In one notable interview, Williams was asked who her favorite leading man was. She replied: "The water."