Esther Jane Williams (August 8, 1921 - June 6, 2013) was an American competitive swimmer and actress. Williams set multiple national and regional swimming records in her late teens as part of the Los Angeles Athletic Club swim team. 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 retired from acting in the early 1960s and later turned down the role of Belle Rosen, a character with a crucial swimming scene, in The Poseidon Adventure. (The role eventually went to Shelley Winters.) She continued to lend her name to a line of retro women's swimwear. "Women worldwide are fighting a thing called gravity," said Williams. "I say to women when I talk to them, 'You girls of 18 have until about 25, 30 at the most, and then you have to report to me. My suits are quality fabric.'" She went on: "I put you in a suit that contains you and you will swim in. I don't want you to be in two Dixie cups and a fish line." She was also the namesake of a company that manufactures swimming pools and swimming pool accessories. She came out with a line of Swim, Baby, Swim videos, which helped parents teach their children how to swim. She also appeared as a commentator for synchronized swimming at the 1984 Summer Olympics. Williams met her fourth husband as a result of his calling her to coordinate her appearance. She co-wrote her autobiography, The Million Dollar Mermaid (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999), with popular media critic and author Digby Diehl. In a 2007 interview with Diane Sawyer, Williams admitted that she had recently suffered a stroke. "I opened my eyes and I could see, but I couldn't remember anything from the past," she said. In June 2008, Williams attended Cyd Charisse's funeral, which she did while seated in a wheelchair. In April 2010, Williams appeared at the first Turner Classic Movies Classic Film Festival in Hollywood, California, alongside two-time co-star Betty Garrett. Their film Neptune's Daughter (1949) was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel, along with a performance of the Williams-inspired synchronized swimming troupe, The Waterlilies. South Beach Miami's 2010 Mercedes Benz Fashion Week Swim, a showcase of designer swimwear, included a Williams suite, complete with a beach summer theme and sand palette with aqua accents. In 2000 an account of Williams's life and career appeared in the Swedish book Esther Williams -- Skenbiografin (Esther Williams -- The Fake Biography) written by Jane Magnusson, in which the author shares with readers her own fascination for art swimming as a genre and, here, in particular, Williams as -- to the author -- both a bewildering and mesmerizing front figure and icon in this field.

Q: what did esther do in her later years
A: She continued to lend her name to a line of retro women's swimwear.

Q: what movie did she star in with betty
A: Their film Neptune's Daughter (1949) was screened at the pool of the Roosevelt Hotel,

Q: what else did she do in her later years
A: She came out with a line of Swim, Baby, Swim videos, which helped parents teach their children how to swim.

Q: how successful was the swimwear line?
A: unknown

Q: what kind of fabric was used for it
A: unknown

Q: anything else interesting about her later years
A: She co-wrote her autobiography, The Million Dollar Mermaid (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1999),

Q: why was it called "the fake biography"?
A: the author shares with readers her own fascination for art swimming as a genre and, here, in particular,
how did the public like the biography?
unknown unknown unknown unknown
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