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Neptune’s Daughter Image: MGM “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has a well-deserved bad reputation. It’s a song about, as our Britt Hayes put it, “a woman being held hostage by some guy who may or may not have drugged her adult beverage.” But it didn’t simply spring, fully formed,...

Esther Williams and Ricardo Montalbán in Neptune’s DaughterImage: MGM

“Baby, It’s Cold Outside” has a well-deserved bad reputation. It’s a song about, as our Britt Hayes put it, “a woman being held hostage by some guy who may or may not have drugged her adult beverage.” But it didn’t simply spring,...

Swimmer who found movie fame in a string of MGM musicals

Esther Williams, "Hollywood's Mermaid", who has died aged 91, swam her way through more than a dozen splashy MGM musicals in the 1940s and early 50s. While smiling at the camera, she was able to do a combination of crawl, breast and backstroke, and was forever blowing bubbles under water, seemingly having an inexhaustible supply of air.

Like the starlets Lana Turner, Kathryn Grayson and Donna Reed before her, she started out for MGM in a Hardy Family picture, Andy Hardy's Double Life (1942) – though one that allowed her to swim with Mickey Rooney. After being billed 19th in A Guy Named Joe (1943), she shot to stardom in her third film, Bathing Beauty (1944).

It started out as an average Red Skelton vehicle, first called Mr Co-Ed, then Sing and Swim, but Esther's superb figure and pretty features were heightened by Technicolor...

Esther Williams: Swimwear-garbed star of MGM Technicolor musicals dead at 91 Esther Williams, known for her swimming skills and ability to smile and keep her makeup and coiffure intact underwater in several MGM Technicolor aqua-musicals of the ’40s and ’50s, died in her sleep earlier today at her Beverly Hills home. Williams, who in recent decades launched a successful swimwear line, was 91. (Photo: Esther Williams publicity shot ca. 1945.) Born on August 8, 1921, in the Los Angeles suburb of Inglewood, Esther Williams began honing her swimming skills at the Los Angeles Athletic Club. Following several victories in swimming competitions, she looked forward to taking part in the 1940 Olympics. World War II, however, interfered. In the early ’40s, she was reportedly discovered by an MGM scout while appearing as a "bathing beauty" at the World’s Fair in San Francisco. The swimming champion would write in her 1999 autobiography The Million Dollar Mermaid that...

Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)

Star of the silver screen and in the swimming pool, actress Esther Williams has passed away at the age of 91. Williams died early today in her sleep, according to her longtime publicist Harlan Boll.

Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)

Turner Classic Movies (TCM) will pay tribute to legendary film star and swimmer Esther Williams with a 24-hour marathon of films beginning Thursday, June 13, at 8 p.m. (Et). TCM’s tribute will feature 13 of Williams’ films, including her film debut in Andy Hardy’s Double Life (1942); her first starring vehicle, Bathing Beauty (1944); the colorful musical Neptune’s Daughter (1949); the biopic of swimmer Annette Kellerman, Million Dollar Mermaid (1952); the romantic comedy Easy to Wed (1946); and the Hawaii-set musical Pagan Love Song (1950).

The following is a complete schedule of TCM’s June 13-14 tribute to Esther Williams:

Thursday, June 13

8 p.m. – Bathing Beauty (1944)

10 p.m. – Neptune’s Daughter (1949)

11:45 p.m.

Los Angeles — Esther Williams, the swimming champion turned actress who starred in glittering and aquatic Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, has died. She was 91.

Williams died early Thursday in her sleep, according to her longtime publicist Harlan Boll.

Following in the footsteps of Sonja Henie, who went from skating champion to movie star, Williams became one of Hollywood's biggest moneymakers, appearing in spectacular swimsuit numbers that capitalized on her wholesome beauty and perfect figure.

Such films as "Easy to Wed," `'Neptune's Daughter" and "Dangerous When Wet" followed the same formula: romance, music, a bit of comedy and a flimsy plot that provided excuses to get Esther into the water.

The extravaganzas dazzled a second generation via television and the compilation films "That's Entertainment." Williams' co-stars included the pick of the MGM contract list, including Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban and Howard Keel.

When hard...

Los Angeles, Calif. - Esther Williams, the swimming champion turned actress who starred in glittering and aquatic Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, has died. She was 91.

Williams died early Thursday in her sleep, according to her longtime publicist Harlan Boll.

Following in the footsteps of Sonja Henie, who went from skating champion to movie star, Williams became one of Hollywood's biggest moneymakers, appearing in spectacular swimsuit numbers that capitalized on her wholesome beauty and perfect figure.

Such films as "Easy to Wed," ''Neptune's Daughter" and "Dangerous When Wet" followed the same formula: romance, music, a bit of comedy and a flimsy plot that provided excuses to get Esther into the water.

The extravaganzas dazzled a second generation via television and the compilation films "That's Entertainment." Williams' co-stars included the pick of the MGM contract list, including Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban and Howard Keel.

Esther Williams, the swimming champion turned actress who starred in glittering and aquatic Technicolor musicals of the 1940s and 1950s, has died. She was 91.

Williams died early Thursday in her sleep, according to her longtime publicist Harlan Boll.

Following in the footsteps of Sonja Henie, who went from skating champion to movie star, Williams became one of Hollywood’s biggest moneymakers, appearing in spectacular swimsuit numbers that capitalized on her wholesome beauty and perfect figure.

Such films as Easy to Wed, Neptune’s Daughter, and Dangerous When Wet followed the same formula: romance, music, a bit of comedy and a flimsy plot that provided excuses to get Esther into the water.

The extravaganzas dazzled a second generation via television and the compilation films That’s Entertainment. Williams’ co-stars included the pick of the MGM contract list, including Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban and Howard Keel.

When hard times signaled the end of big studios and costly musicals in the mid-’50s, Williams tried non-swimming roles with little success. After her 1962 marriage to Fernando Lamas, her co-star in Dangerous When Wet, she retired from public life.

By Todd Garbarini

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Walt Disney Studios graciously provided me with the opportunity recently to discuss Peter Pan with two of the film’s stars: Kathryn Beaumont, who provided the voice of Wendy, and Paul Collins, who provided the voice of John Darling.

Kathryn Beaumont

Todd Garbarini: Thank you for speaking with me about Peter Pan.

Kathryn Beaumont: Thank you, it’s my pleasure!

Tg: I am a big fan of the Disney cartoons as I spent the better part of my childhood seeing them.

Kb: I'm so glad! They really are special, aren't they? The Disney cartoons really stand the test of time.

Tg: These are some of the earliest movies I ever saw in both movie theaters and drive-ins. I really miss the drive-ins. There are so few of them left.

Kb: I know! I miss the drive-ins, too!

Tg: I...