Esther williams biography book
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The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography
What irritated me as I kept reading were many: Williams's constant contradictions about herself, MGM, and the world around her (she was constantly painting herself as both the victim and the hero of this story, but I didn't feel she had any real self-awareness to be either, it was only what suited the anecdote); the self-important way she continued to place herself -- her personal struggles and her professional struggles -- alongside other (much) more famous actresses (she really, really needed the reader to know that she kept company with Elizabeth Taylor and Grace Kelly); and the dialogue -- oh, Jesus, the dialogue!
I don't know whose fault the dialogue was, hers or Digby Diehl's, but their editor should have stepped in (and the editor also should h
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The Million Dollar Mermaid: An Autobiography - Softcover
Synopsis
During Hollywood's heyday, big studios battled over the next box-office attraction. While Gene Kelly danced and Judy Garland sang, Esther Williams swam into the heart of America with her dazzling smile, stunning aquabatics, and whole-some appeal. Hand-picked for stardom by movie mogul Louis B. Mayer, Esther shed her wide-eyed innocence at what she affectionately calls University MGM, a unique educational institution where sex appeal and glamour were taught, a school where idols were born. Once a national swimming champion and struggling salesgirl, overnight she became one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. And though fame came quickly, Esther's personal life was often less than joyous. Through troubled marriages, cross-dressing lovers, financial bankruptcy, she shares the ups and downs of her extraordinary career in The Million Dollar Mermaid, a wildly entertaining behind-the-scenes account of one of Tinseltow
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The Million Dollar Mermaid
By ESTHER WILLIAMS with DIGBY DIEHL
Simon & Schuster
Read the Review
Esther Williams, Cary Grant, and LSD
Which Esther Williams do you want to hear about? As I look back through the filing cabinet of my life while writing this book, I realize that there are many of us. I love that sweet little child who grew up in the depression and, being the fifth child, felt the need to try so hard to please her family. I'm still rooting for that determined teenage swimmer who kicked and stroked her way through hundreds of miles of training in the water to a national championship. I'm awed by the kid with no theatrical training who walked onto the stage of Billy Rose's Aquacade at the San Francisco Exposition and became a media darling overnight. Of course, I have to chuckle as that same kid walks through the gates of MGM a year later and swims her way to movie stardom. That long-legged GI pinup was me!
Sometimes I think th