Esther Williams

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.

Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 – June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress.

She set regional and national records in her late teens on the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team.

Esther Jane Williams was born on August 8, 1921, in Inglewood, California, 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).

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 toward 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.

Williams was enthusiastic about swimming in her youth.

Her older sister, Maurine, took her to Manhattan Beach and to the local pool.

She took a job counting towels at the pool to pay the five-cent entry fee, and while there, had swimming lessons from the male lifeguards.

From them, she learned the "male only" swimming strokes, including the butterfly, with which she would later break records.

Her medley team set the record for the 300-yard relay at the Los Angeles Athletic Club in 1939, and was also national AAU champion in the 100 meter freestyle, with a record-breaking time of 1 minute 9.0 seconds.

By age 16, Williams had won three US national championships in breaststroke and freestyle swimming.

Williams graduated from Washington High School (now known as Washington Preparatory High School) in Los Angeles, 1939, where she served as class vice president, and later president.

However, Williams never trained in swimming while there.

During her senior year of high school, Williams received a D in her algebra course, preventing her from getting a scholarship to the University of Southern California.

She enrolled in Los Angeles City College to retake the course.

In 1939, Williams expressed interest in pursuing a degree in physical education in order to teach it one day.

To earn money for tuition, Williams worked as a stock girl at the I. Magnin department store, where she also modeled clothing for customers and appeared in newspaper advertisements.

While Williams was working at I. Magnin, she was contacted by Billy Rose's assistant and asked to audition as a replacement for Eleanor Holm in his Aquacade show.

Unable to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics because of the outbreak of World War II, she joined Billy Rose's Aquacade, where she took on the role vacated by Eleanor Holm after the show's move from New York City to San Francisco.

While in the city, she spent five months swimming alongside Olympic gold-medal winner and Tarzan star Johnny Weissmuller.

Williams caught the attention of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer scouts at the Aquacade.

After appearing in several small roles, and alongside Mickey Rooney in an Andy Hardy film and future five-time co-star Van Johnson in A Guy Named Joe, Williams made a series of films in the 1940s and early 1950s known as "aquamusicals", which featured elaborate performances with synchronised swimming and diving.

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."

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.