Hollywood's Dark Mermaid 

I met her in 1980 at the old Cypress Gardens in Florida (it is now the home of Legoland). There was an Ester Williams pool shaped like the state of Florida at the edge of the big lake there. It was used in one of her movies. When we got finished touring the gardens, my mom and I were in the gift shop admiring the beautiful swimsuits they had for sale. I loved to swim but had a hard time finding a suit that fit (even at age 16, I had large “assets” and needed more support than the average swimsuit could provide). There was an older lady there touring the gift shop with a group of executives. She saw my mom and eavesdropped on our conversation. She suddenly strode over to us, said hello, and spotted the problem immediately. She looked me up and down, rifled through the suits on the rack for a second, then handed me a suit. It fit me perfectly and I wore it for the better part of a decade. I still own it, because how can you part with a swimsuit that Ester Williams chose just for you?!

Thank you for giving Esther Williams the credit she deserves as a world class swimmer and athlete. She was more than just a pretty face. She was a beast of endurance in the water.

While I'm glad that she found happiness after two duds, I personally would have taken a pass on El Fernando. To me he asked way too much, insisting that she not have a career was part of the times but forsake the kids?! Ugh, ugh. She's lucky they forgave her.

One small quibble - the word Lamé (as in gold lame) is pronounced lahmay. It's a french word and the final e at the end is pronounced.

No man is worth giving up your children.

I was a young girl when I met Ester Williams. A new hotel in my hometown was having a grand opening. It had a large pool. She motioned for me to join her in taking a photo. I stood on the diving board next to her as photographers took photos. My family hoped my photo with her would be one that would be printed in our local newspaper. But it wasn’t. But I can still say I met her and had my photo taken with her.

Son--Lana Turner's name is pronounced "Lah-nah." And regarding Esther Williams' silver Lamé swimsuit--Lamé is pronounced "lah-may."

I used to swim in the Esther Williams Pool almost every day in the summer in the 60s. There was a plaque with the name of the pool. It was a basic Olympic sized pool. It was clean and had a huge building for changing. Not many amenities. But, oh, the great memories! We were 30 minutes from the ocean and Hollywood.

True story. I had a traffic collision with Esther Williams in Long Beach in 1985. I didn't know it was her until her insurance agent told me.

Lah-na Turner, not Layna 🙄🤦🏼‍♀️

I would never ever chose a man over my children...

Met her in Atlantic City she jumped from a helicopter and was so friendly

ESTHER was a stunning beauty AND could act too !

I enjoy your videos. The frequent mispronunciations are really jarring.

Because of her I became interested n water ballet. I then taught my children how to swim and , as well, water ballet. Which benefitted us all as we had asthma. Had much admiration for Ms Williams, not only for her swimming and acting, but for her backbone…

Esther Williams was seated in her beautiful brown convertible Mercedes-Benz at a stoplight in Beverly Hills and she waved to me when I looked over at her. She was still a stunningly beautiful woman in the 1970s.

That really WAS fascinating! I adored Esther Williams as a teenager. Little did I know of the twists and turns, that horrific neck injury, the body cast for 6 months, the purpose built swimming pool...heavens! I found it engrossing! People are getting a little too bent out of shape about the mispronunciations, I think. Don't lose sight of the fact that there's someone out there making a show that you value watching because nobody else is doing it! Live and let live, guys, we're all on a learning journey.

Damn Esther Williams and her "gold, lame swimsuit!" (Seriously, does no one check pronunciation anymore?)

She is lying. I knew and worked with Jeff he doesn’t deserve this BS. She was trying to sell her book. Jeff isn’t here to defend himself. But I am. RIP dear Jeff Chandler

She was so talented she made swimming look beautiful and effortless

i can’t count how many times i stayed up late to watch Ester Williams movies + the other Hollywood movies.. 🍿 this was in the late 50’s when TV came into our lounge rooms!

Thanks, my mom mentioned her a lot when I was growing up, but, I had never known much about her, so I enjoyed hearing about her!!

Looking behind the curtain on celebrities can create appreciation or disgust - I feel that way about Esther Williams and Barbara Stanwyck in the negative, and very positive about Myna Loy and Lucille Ball in the + I have seen documentaries and read books written by them, and in Lucille Ball's case, read books about her and Desilu. Myra Loy, while at the top of her career when WWII broke out, devoted everything to the war effort - did not worry about her career or what she was losing out on by turning her back on the glamorous life and $. My appreciation goes very deep - of course I loved her in her movies with William Powell in the Thin Man series and I Love Lucy and always will.

Wow the hydraulic lift and the deep deep pool sounds scary as scary can be. 😱

Williams went to her house every evening and cooked dinner for her children staying to help them with their homework. Then she returned to the house she shared with Lamas. Very unorthodox, but she did not completely give up her children as you imply. I don't think many people could live like that but she made it work with her selfish and domineering husband.

Actress Deborah Kerr's name is pronounced Car.

How interesting. I love these mini docs so much!

Lots of people gave birth at home in the 20s and 30s. My grandfather was from a wealthy family and was born at home and was delivered by a midwife.His father was Doctor.

Yikes. Japan is not a city but a country. Williams wore a gold lame' (pronounced la-may) swimming suit, not a lame one. She competed with Lah-nah Turner, not Lay-nah Turner. It's the little things that are jarring ... .

Gamal Abdel Nasser president of Egypt was an Esther Williams fan. He would go to the US Embassy and enjoy her films while eating hotdogs.

My Dad adored her and we always watched her movies together. I love your videos.

I was on her side right up until she chose a man over her own children

I only saw Esther Williams in one movie which i enjoyed - it wasn't even mentioned. "Easy to Wed" with Lucille Ball, Van Johnson and Keenan Wynn.

Thank you for making these videos. Very interesting. Just for future reference, Ricardo Montalban's last name is pronounced Mun-tail-bon. He was big on TV in the 70s and 80s when I was growing up. So I heard his name spoken aloud a lot. Fantasy Island was popular and he also played Khan in Star Trek: The Wrath of Kahn. He actually also played the character on OG Star Trek in the 60s too.

I enjoyed this video greatly. Her movies were shown on TV in the fifties and sixties. I loved them but had no idea how exciting and dangerous they were. That being said, the names of several actors were not pronounced correctly, and it was a lamé (pronounced lah-may) bathing suit. It's French, complete with an acute accent. *Who took care of her children when she was no longer in the picture? So sad.*

Dear Narrators of Factinate - please research how to pronounce names and basic words before recording .... Thank you, Your Audience

I'm so impressed with these old times features, so interesting.

I remember Esther Williams because Brandon brought her back to life! “Hey Esther!”

Brings back memories of watching the movies with Mama and Daddy🥰 so interesting to hear stories of the actresses and actors lives! Enjoy your stories thank you ✌❤🙏

How can a mother choose a man over her own children!!!!😡 I hope that she knew how BLESSED she truly was that her children let her come back into their lives!!!!

I loved watching her movies. I wanted to swim just like her. That passion started my adventures at the YWCA. Her Memory is A Blessing.

what kind of woman chooses a man over her children......that's a hard pass on respect from me

Esther Williams was ok until she wrote her fictional autobiography. She claimed Jeff Chandler was a cross dresser to which his friends and family in droves denied the allegation. When confronted about it, Esther admitted it was made up to sell books. She damaged her career, reputation and any public appeal she may have still had and deserved to be ostracized. I only watched this video to see if this was mentioned. Seems you didn't do your homework.

Love the content. Love the info. Love the narrative .HATE the numerous mispronouncing of words, especially the stars' names, etc. This flaw really hurts the otherwise very polished product. As a professional, please check on the correct descriptors, pronunciations, etc. Thank you

“…confessed, to her mother, what had happened”

Damn, she was beautiful!

Perhaps the mispronunciations are because it is an AI narration?!

Love your videos. Could you do one on Remedios Varo, the painter?

You mean the Olympics in the city of Tokyo, Japan 😉

Lol, ai always reveals itself with its weird mispronunciations: Lane-uh Turner, Ricardo Mont-owl-ban, and a Gold Lamé bathing suit becomes lame

Why in the world wouldn’t they test the costumes before using them during filming? I question the accuracy of that story.

Actress Deborah Kerr's nane is pronounced Car.

Well nevertheless....we all have things in our family ....some negetive...my precious Mom loved loved Esther Williams !!.i do too...love Her movies ....watch them in summertime ..makes me so happy to think of mt precious Mom .....

Really interesting, thank-you for your research.

Artificial intelligence... not as intelligent as it would like us to believe.

I really enjoyed that, thank you.😊

💐 Thanks for ur gr8 presentation. Before my time so I vaguely recall her name but wow... what a beautiful, talented women, SMART too! 👏 👍

Wow!🎉🎉🎉great video! Thanks! Saw all her movies as a kid! She was beautiful and a fantastic swimmer! What a life she had!

I do not respect women who give up their kids for anyone, let alone a man. period. I am sure her kids did not get over it even if they saw her after he died and it was then "okay" to see her kids. what kind of "mother" does that? not a loving good one, for sure.

A friend of mine complained that crossword puzzles weren't making sense anymore. "It thinks gold material is lame! What is so lame about cloth?"

Lana is pronounced "Lahna" not "Layna".

I love watching her movies 😍 they always make me happy ❤️💙

Good god what a life

Fascinating Story of the great Wsther Williams ❤😊

I liked Jupiters Darling. Have watched it several times.

Lame Swimsuit 🤣💀. Call the Fashion Police,and what not to wear.

This AI needs to learn how to pronounce certain words.

How cool is that. I am a fan and envious

What happened to her affair with Billy Rose? The one that broke up his marriage to Fanny Brice??

Is this a real person narrating or a computer voice? Because some of the words said are just wrong. Sounds like someone who knows English but then doesn't say some words correctly.

Two discrepancies. You mentioned Mexico but I saw a shot of the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain. The second you mentioned Australian military officers but showed a USMC colonel sometime after the 1970s. I recognized the insignia and BDU.

Not exactly mother of the year.

Her children, born in 1949, '50 and '53, were late teens early 20s when she married Lamas in 1969. So they weren't babes. And his request was that they could not live with them.

In my entire 72 years, I've always heard it pronounced 'LAH-na Turner like the short 'a' in 'lawn.'

I loved her movies

In her autobio Williams alleges that Jeff Chandler was a cross-dresser. His friends deny this. Who knows? Read MILLION DOLLAR MERMAID for a fascinating glimpse into a fascinating, and often disappointing, life.

hello .......great share . thank you , for sharing🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰🥰............

At 7:38, gold “lame” should read “lamé” (two syllables). Also, elsewhere “Layna” Turner should be pronounced “Lana” (short A in the first syllable) or “Lahna.”

I loved her movies. ❤❤

Mother of the year all time Hollywood winner Joan Crawford .

I love Esther Williams. Beautiful. I guess we all have our secrets huh? 😮. Still adore her

"Japan was the host city."???? Ummm, you do know that it's not a city, don't you?

Her autobiography is a great read.

Hey, ashes aren’t tossed, they are scattered.

I always enjoyed her swim movies, she was so graceful....🌹🇺🇸

Sticking up for urself against Mayer, doesn't make u rageful

Jeff was crying about his dead wife and her room was his sanctuary, he would cry while smelling her perfume... A very much younger throphy wife of a buddy came forth, to expose any lie Esther wanted to say about jeff Chandler. Besides he was Jewish and she wasnt.

While we are on the subject of Esther Williams, she also disclosed that she was browned off with her husband to Ben Gage and his pipe smoking. She found fruition in the arms of another man, the very handsome, Victor Mature, while shooting "Million Dollar Mermaid". Like she once said in an interview: "I didn't think much of any of my male co-stars and then Victor Mature came along. Yes, he eventually gave me what I needed" Guys, you can draw your own conclusions, without me spelling it out for you.

Yes, I have always loved Esther Williams. When we were kids, the family during Xmas, New Year and Easter would always choose an Esther Williams film to heighten our enjoyment. Many of her 40's films that we weren't fortunate to see were reissued during the 50's, and screenings of these films were regular. Some weeks cinemas would have an Esther Williams marathon - that is, one film of Esther for different days in the week. My top fave of Esther's films will always be Easy to love, followed by The Duchess of Idaho and Million Dollar Mermaid. Yes, being an Esther fan, I did read about her torrid affair with Jeff Chandler. They starred in one film together: Raw wind in Eden, that also co-starred Rosanna Podesta. Esther broke with Jeff Chandler when she accidentally discovered that he was a cross-dresser. From gowns, to swimsuits to lingerie, he wore them all and always got sexually excited, resulting in you know what. I too am a great fan of Jeff Chandler and, while it is hard to digest this fact about him, I keep asking myself, why would Esther invent such a story otherwise.

I loved Jupiter's Darling!

I found one of the last comments about choosing Fernando false. I read her autobiography years ago and that’s not what happened. She helped them with homework, meals & etc. in their home.

Ester Williams was so pretty!

I really like Million Dollar Mermaid.

La - mae.

8:42. 😂 That is such an Australian thing to do!

You need to look up pronunciations on very common words. Lame fabric is pronounced Lah-may. Lana Tuner is pronounced Lah-nah. Ricardo Montlaban is pronounced Mon-ta-bon. Deborah Kerr is pronounced Car. It is hard to watch these when you mess up names and words.

I loved her so much!!! This shocks me...

I am distracted by all the mispronounced words and incorrect facts. Nonetheless interesting video clips.

This video would have been so much more enjoyable if only the narrator had not repeatedly slaughtered the names of everything from fabric to actual movie stars whose names were common in many American households! If the narration was made by an AI voice, as I strongly suspect, the program should be educated in French pronunciation and the names of Hollywood's golden era stars. If the narration was read by an actual human being, the narrator should receive elocution lessons, PRONTO!

Thanks:) a bit of help with your pronunciation: Lana: LaNaa (think of Lana Del Rae Lame: LaMae (type of fabric)