American swimming champion-turned-film-star Esther Williams died in her sleep today, at age 91.
Williams, who was a national champion in her teens, was spotted by an MGM talent scout and made her screen debut in Andy Hardy's Double Life in 1942. MGM would go on to make her in to a synchonised screen siren, developing "Aqua Musicals" specifically for her in the 1940s.
Dubbed Hollywood's Mermaid, she became a huge box office draw in the Forties and Fifties, with her films including The One Piece Bathing Suit - co-starring Victor Mature - Dangerous When Wet and Fiesta.
Other big-name co-stars included Howard Keel, Frank Sinatra and Gene Kelly.
As studio appetites for musicals declined, she tried to carve a name for herself out of the water but failed to match her earlier succes. She retired from public life in the Sixties, marrying her Dangerous When Wet co-star Fernando Lamas - her third husband after Leonard Kovner and Ben Gage. After Lamas died from pancreatic cancer in 1982, Williams found herself back in television, co-hosting ABC-TV's coverage of the Olympic Games.
She married former French literature professor Edward Bell in 1994 and published a biography, The Million Dollar Mermaid, in 1999.
Last night, her stepson Lorenzo Lamas posted on Twitter: "My stepmom Esther Williams passed peacefully this morning. The best swim teacher and soul mom RIP."
She is survived by her three children from her marriage to Gage, Benjamin, Kimball and Susan, and husband Bell.
