Esther Williams

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 8/3/03 at 9:42pm

I'm curious: Did Esther Williams do her own singing in her film musicals? The films are just as corny as can be, but she is so beautiful you just can't take your eyes away. After a while, those guys at MGM had to work hard to find excuses to get her in the water. Sometimes there was no excuse: She simply ended up "swimming" in the air in one of Howard Keel's daydreams!

Anyhoo, was it her voice or was it dubbed?

Updated On: 8/3/03 at 09:42 PM

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 8/6/03 at 1:06pm

Anyone? Does no one remember pretty, buoyant Esther?

Posted: 8/6/03 at 1:11pm

I think she actually did do some of her own singing...

but maybe not..

Remember what Fanny Brice once said about her:

"Wet, she's a star!"

LOL!

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 8/6/03 at 1:24pm

I think she's just lovely, though, even on dry land. Those cute little sun dresses in PAGAN LOVE SONG? If only I had such a figure!

Updated On: 8/6/03 at 01:24 PM

Posted: 8/6/03 at 1:32pm

what brought on the Esther delirium your in...

[ChrisLovesShows]

Posted: 8/6/03 at 4:02pm

It's actually a off-shoot of my devotion to the great Howard Keel. I adore him like Dollypop adores Carol Channing (aka TGC), just not in a way that is so, you know, scary. Howard and Esther made several movies together and I was watching PAGAN LOVE SONG, set in Tahiti, on video this past weekend. She sings a couple of songs and her voice was so nice I wondered if she really could sing of if someone else sang for her.

[Dollypop]

Posted: 8/6/03 at 7:30pm

A former student and I attended a performance of Ralf Fiennes' HAMLET a few years ago. After the performance we visited with Ralph in his dressing room. There was a plump and jolly woman there who my STUDENT recognized as Esther Williams. She couldn't have been nicer.

[MasterLcZ]

Posted: 8/6/03 at 10:00pm

I believe that in some instances she was dubbed, but in other times ("Baby, It's Cold Outside") it's her voice.

I Love Esther. Her movies are such unpretentious fun. And she had an awesome body - Not a skinny lollypop-head like you'd see today- but curvy yet lithe and muscular.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 8/7/03 at 2:08am

I may be wrong, but I am pretty sure there was not a lot of dubbing in those pictures. The studios had really strong music departments that coached even non-singers to get by in musicals. It wasn’t until the 50’s that dubbing for a star really took off.