Esther Williams

“Howard Hughes himself was a regular at the restaurant, and in a way it became his headquarters, too. Howard had recently relocated to Las Vegas, so when he wanted to do business in Los Angeles, he went into the back of our restaurant to use the telephone.”

“With two little boys in diapers, I had to keep it simple if I were going to have a life at all.”

“My training in Science of Mind had begun with my mother. She took me to a different church every Sunday, and she encouraged me to question the minister afterward.”

“Traveling to swimming meets took me beyond my small-town existence, gave me a hint of the exciting world outside of my own home.”

“Marriage to Fernando offered shelter and security, but the shackle was the price I'd pay.”

“Three events. Three gold medals. I was news, big news, in the sports world.”

“Widowhood had done nothing to curb my smart mouth. So much for diplomacy.”

“Even though I had a lucrative contract with MGM, I had a husband who was drinking and gambling our money away faster than I could make it.”

“I took a job at the pool in order to earn the five cents a day it cost to swim. I counted wet towels. As a bonus, I was allowed to swim during lunchtime.”

“Victor Mature was a big man; he had a great swagger. I liked him and I knew we'd be good together on screen.”

“Somehow I kept my head above water. I relied on the discipline, character, and strength that I had started to develop as that little girl in her first swimming pool.”

“I always took it for granted that there would be life after Hollywood.”

“Clark Gable was the first to have called me a mermaid.”

“I was all in gold sequins for Million Dollar Mermaid, 50 feet in the air.”

“What the public expects and what is healthy for an individual are two very different things.”

“I always felt that if I made a movie, it would be one movie; I didn't see how they could make 26 swimming movies.”

“We can't all win Olympic medals. Even I never won one.”

“I was 15, and the years of hard swimming had packed muscle on my frame and made me very strong. Not as strong as a football player, but strong enough to inflict heavy damage.”

“I gave my eardrums to MGM. And it's true: I really did.”

“I took my daily swim at the Beverly Hills Hotel pool despite the presence of onlookers.”