Borrow it
Coverart for item
The Resource The million dollar mermaid, Esther Williams with Digby Diehl

The million dollar mermaid, Esther Williams with Digby Diehl

Creator
Author
Contributor
Summary
  • The author offers her perspective on life during Hollywood's Golden Age, chronicling her youthful idealism, her training to be a star, and her own tempestuous personal life
  • Rarely has one of Hollywood's golden-age stars written with such genuine wit and candor about what it was like to work in the movie factories where actors were pampered and coddled, yet expected to work without complaint for long, hard hours; what it was like to be young and sexy and to be turned into an object of desire for millions of moviegoers; what it was like to live in a world of almost total unreality, yet be expected to go about the business of finding a mate and raising a family, and avoiding personal scandal at all costs. Here is Esther Williams' witty, fresh, and frank autobiography, all about an eighteen-year-old girl who reluctantly answers the siren call of MGM--at the time, the most powerful and prestigious movie studio in the world--and who soon finds herself launched on a career that will last more than twenty years, during which time she will help to create a genre of film that seems almost unimaginable today, yet which still holds all its original freshness and fascination, and who becomes during those years one of the world's top box-office stars. Williams calls MGM her "university," and the education she got there was one in how to project glamour and femininity, how to make yourself desirable while always, always playing the lady. No one who went through that university has ever written before with such absolute candor about what it was really like--the affairs, the gossip, the tricks of the trade, the competition, the deals. the fights; and the methods the studios had for keeping their stars in line. With a sharp mind and a rapier wit, Esther Williams brings to life those times and those bigger-than-life people, telling her stories with respect, yet with clear-eyed candor.--Adapted from dust jacket
Language
eng
Work
Publication
Extent
416 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates
Note
Includes index
Contents
  • Esther Williams, Cary Grant, and LSD
  • The fifth child, 1922-1936
  • In full bloom, 1939
  • The birth of a professional mermaid, 1940
  • L.B. Mayer meets his match, 1940-1941
  • MGM University, 1941
  • The Andy Hardy test, 1942
  • Bathing beauty, 1943-1944
  • Hitting my stride, 1944-1945
  • Becoming a star, 1946
  • Fiesta, 1946
  • Name above the title, 1946-1947
  • Movies and motherhood, 1948-1949
  • Duchess of Idaho and Pagan love song, 1950
  • The end of an era, 1950-1951
  • Million dollar mermaid, 1952
  • Dangerous when wet, 1953
  • Easy to love, my quintessential MGM film, 1953-1955
  • Jupiter's darling and farewell MGM, 1953-1955
  • Going, going ..., 1955-1956
  • Gone, 1957-1959
  • The return of Fernando, 1960-1961
  • Esther Lamas, 1961-1964
  • Tethered, 1964-1982
  • The last journey, August-October 1982
  • Godmother to a sport [synchronized swimming], 1982-1984
  • Reflections and compensations
Isbn
9780684852843
Instance
Label
The million dollar mermaid
Title
The million dollar mermaid
Statement of responsibility
Esther Williams with Digby Diehl
Creator
Contributor
Author
Subject
Genre
Language
eng
Summary
  • The author offers her perspective on life during Hollywood's Golden Age, chronicling her youthful idealism, her training to be a star, and her own tempestuous personal life
  • Rarely has one of Hollywood's golden-age stars written with such genuine wit and candor about what it was like to work in the movie factories where actors were pampered and coddled, yet expected to work without complaint for long, hard hours; what it was like to be young and sexy and to be turned into an object of desire for millions of moviegoers; what it was like to live in a world of almost total unreality, yet be expected to go about the business of finding a mate and raising a family, and avoiding personal scandal at all costs. Here is Esther Williams' witty, fresh, and frank autobiography, all about an eighteen-year-old girl who reluctantly answers the siren call of MGM--at the time, the most powerful and prestigious movie studio in the world--and who soon finds herself launched on a career that will last more than twenty years, during which time she will help to create a genre of film that seems almost unimaginable today, yet which still holds all its original freshness and fascination, and who becomes during those years one of the world's top box-office stars. Williams calls MGM her "university," and the education she got there was one in how to project glamour and femininity, how to make yourself desirable while always, always playing the lady. No one who went through that university has ever written before with such absolute candor about what it was really like--the affairs, the gossip, the tricks of the trade, the competition, the deals. the fights; and the methods the studios had for keeping their stars in line. With a sharp mind and a rapier wit, Esther Williams brings to life those times and those bigger-than-life people, telling her stories with respect, yet with clear-eyed candor.--Adapted from dust jacket
Writing style
Additional physical form
Also issued online.
Biography type
autobiography
http://library.link/vocab/ext/novelist/bookUI
185375
Cataloging source
DLC
http://library.link/vocab/creatorDate
1921-2013
http://library.link/vocab/creatorName
Williams, Esther
Dewey number
  • 791.43/028/092
  • B
Illustrations
  • illustrations
  • plates
Index
index present
LC call number
PN2287.W472
LC item number
A3 1999
Literary form
non fiction
NLM call number
000098249
http://library.link/vocab/relatedWorkOrContributorName
Diehl, Digby
http://library.link/vocab/resourcePreferred
True
http://library.link/vocab/subjectName
  • Williams, Esther
  • Williams, Esther
  • Motion picture actors and actresses
  • Actors and actresses
  • Motion picture actors and actresses
  • United States
Label
The million dollar mermaid, Esther Williams with Digby Diehl
Instantiates
Publication
Note
Includes index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Esther Williams, Cary Grant, and LSD -- The fifth child, 1922-1936 -- In full bloom, 1939 -- The birth of a professional mermaid, 1940 -- L.B. Mayer meets his match, 1940-1941 -- MGM University, 1941 -- The Andy Hardy test, 1942 -- Bathing beauty, 1943-1944 -- Hitting my stride, 1944-1945 -- Becoming a star, 1946 -- Fiesta, 1946 -- Name above the title, 1946-1947 -- Movies and motherhood, 1948-1949 -- Duchess of Idaho and Pagan love song, 1950 -- The end of an era, 1950-1951 -- Million dollar mermaid, 1952 -- Dangerous when wet, 1953 -- Easy to love, my quintessential MGM film, 1953-1955 -- Jupiter's darling and farewell MGM, 1953-1955 -- Going, going ..., 1955-1956 -- Gone, 1957-1959 -- The return of Fernando, 1960-1961 -- Esther Lamas, 1961-1964 -- Tethered, 1964-1982 -- The last journey, August-October 1982 -- Godmother to a sport [synchronized swimming], 1982-1984 -- Reflections and compensations
Control code
ocm41565241
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
416 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780684852843
Lccn
99035872
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)41565241
Label
The million dollar mermaid, Esther Williams with Digby Diehl
Publication
Note
Includes index
Carrier category
volume
Carrier category code
  • nc
Carrier MARC source
rdacarrier
Content category
text
Content type code
  • txt
Content type MARC source
rdacontent
Contents
Esther Williams, Cary Grant, and LSD -- The fifth child, 1922-1936 -- In full bloom, 1939 -- The birth of a professional mermaid, 1940 -- L.B. Mayer meets his match, 1940-1941 -- MGM University, 1941 -- The Andy Hardy test, 1942 -- Bathing beauty, 1943-1944 -- Hitting my stride, 1944-1945 -- Becoming a star, 1946 -- Fiesta, 1946 -- Name above the title, 1946-1947 -- Movies and motherhood, 1948-1949 -- Duchess of Idaho and Pagan love song, 1950 -- The end of an era, 1950-1951 -- Million dollar mermaid, 1952 -- Dangerous when wet, 1953 -- Easy to love, my quintessential MGM film, 1953-1955 -- Jupiter's darling and farewell MGM, 1953-1955 -- Going, going ..., 1955-1956 -- Gone, 1957-1959 -- The return of Fernando, 1960-1961 -- Esther Lamas, 1961-1964 -- Tethered, 1964-1982 -- The last journey, August-October 1982 -- Godmother to a sport [synchronized swimming], 1982-1984 -- Reflections and compensations
Control code
ocm41565241
Dimensions
25 cm
Extent
416 pages, 32 unnumbered pages of plates
Isbn
9780684852843
Lccn
99035872
Media category
unmediated
Media MARC source
rdamedia
Media type code
  • n
Other physical details
illustrations
System control number
(OCoLC)41565241

Subject

Genre

Library Locations

    • McMinnville Public LibraryBorrow it
      225 NW Adams Street, McMinnville, OR, 97128, US
      45.210071 -123.199661
    • Silver Falls Library DistrictBorrow it
      410 S. Water Street, Silverton, OR, 97381, US
      45.003378 -122.781322
    • Salem Public LibraryBorrow it
      585 Liberty Street SE, Salem, OR, 97301, US
      44.934972 -123.041775

Library Links

Structured data from the Bibframe namespace is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License by Chemeketa Cooperative Regional Library Service (CCRLS). Additional terms may apply to data associated with third party namespaces.
Processing Feedback ...