"It's not like Rita Hayworth or Betty Grable, where you were showing legs and bodies. Esther Williams Trophy (Courtesy Australia's Department of Defence) But Edward Bell wants you to know this wasn’t that. You’re probably picturing a photo of Esther Williams in a swimsuit with legs for days. The one Tom saw is called the "fighting copy." It’s a signed photo of a smiling Esther in a wooden frame inscribed with "Take me if you dare" and "Carry me with honor." Over the years, a few copies of the Esther Williams Trophy have been made. "It's a rather odd looking thing and a rather odd concept of a trophy," Tom says. And it was there that Tom first saw the framed photo that the Australian Navy - and, later, the British, American and Canadian Navies - fought over from 1943 until Esther’s death in 2013. Spectacle Island is where the Australian Navy keeps its most prized artifacts. They're a couple of hundred meters long - each of them - and air conditioned." "Spectacle Island is so called, because it was two islands joined by a little strip of land," Tom says. So I would have thought it was just one of those type trophies."īut it wasn’t, as Tom learned on a visit to a place called Spectacle Island. "So you do have competitions in sport, you have competitions for best gunnery ship and things like that. "I think I remember thinking that it was just one of those trophies that ships compete for," Tom says. And it wasn’t long after he joined in 1983 that he first heard about the Esther Williams Trophy. Tom served in the Australian Navy for 20 years. "We've got lots of ways of being stupid in the armed forces," says military historian Dr. I called him because I recently learned that this swimmer-turned-movie star was the prize, the face and the voice of an international military competition that spanned seven decades. And I didn’t call Edward Bell to talk about her career. Brown/Getty Images)Įsther Williams died in 2013. We had a wonderful, wonderful relationship." Esther Williams and Edward Bell in 2008. Maybe you’ve already figured this out, but Edward and Esther fell in love. This strength about her as a woman," Bell says. "And I think, instinctively, women felt empowered by her.
DEAR ESTHER TTOPHIES MOVIE
"She gave Mickey Rooney an underwater kiss," Edward says.Įsther Williams starred in a new kind of movie – called "aqua musicals." They were huge MGM productions that spotlighted Esther’s grace and power as a swimmer. So, as Esther said, 'As compensation, I became a movie star.' "Įsther's first movie was 'Andy Hardy's Double Life' with Mickey Rooney. "But, in 1940, the Olympics were canceled because of the war. In 1939, she was the reigning American 100-meter freestyle champion. "And Esther was referred to as 'the mother of synchronized swimming.' "Įsther Williams had almost gone to the Olympics herself. "NBC was looking for commentators, because it was first Olympics they had synchronized swimming," Edward says. McDonald’s ended up going in another direction, but Edward helped Esther get a different job at those Olympic Games. She was so charming and bright that I just, I was so taken with her," Edward says. "I think I was so taken by the fact that - I loved movie stars, I knew a lot of them. She thought that was very funny," Edward says.Įdward says he doesn't remember much about the rest of the lunch. And when I saw her walk in, I stood up and knocked the whole table over.
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Esther Williams, I saw her movies at Radio City Music Hall when I was a kid."Įdward arranged to meet Esther at a restaurant in LA. "She said, 'Would you like to meet for lunch?' Of course I'd like to meet for lunch. And I told her what we needed," Edward says. "So I picked up the telephone, and I called her. Esther Williams.' And they said, 'Fine, can you get her?' And I said, 'Oh, yeah, sure.' "Įdward didn’t actually know Esther Williams. "And they said, 'Do you know anybody else?' " Edward says. There's Buster Crabbe,' " Edward says.īuster Crabbe was an actor who won gold in the freestyle at the 1932 Olympics. One day he got a call from McDonald’s wondering if he could find a celebrity from the sport of swimming. Like every good romantic comedy, this story begins with a classic Hollywood “meet cute.”Įdward Bell was producing promotional events for the 1984 Olympics. (Courtesy Australia's Department of Defence) This article is more than 2 years old.