Book Description
For the first time in print, this extraordinary and beautiful story tells the tale of Annette Kellerman—the woman who became one of the highest paid and most adored Hollywood and vaudeville stars of her day. Kellerman won audiences the world over with her trademark performances, gained fame for her dangerous swims in the English Channel, participated in a vaudeville act in which she dove into a giant glass tank, and performed underwater ballet. After starring in Hollywood's first-ever million-dollar film, she soon became a household name who drew long lines to see her on the screen in her famous, provocative costumes. This biography beautifully captures how Kellerman stole the hearts of a generation and challenged standards regarding how women should look, act, and think.
Customer Reviews:
A Fascinating Read About a Pioneer Performer........2007-03-20
I'm completely amazed at the accomplishments of Ms Kellerman. Those who have watched and enjoyed the film 'Million Dollar Mermaid' only know a small part of the tale. What an inspiring story of a unique and fascinating woman, a pioneer athlete & performer who no doubt continues to inspire many of those in the aquatic performance field.
An excellent biography.......2007-01-29
Well worth reading. Annette Kellerman was an exceptional athlete, able to do virtually anything she set her mind to. She 'invented' underwater ballet and the modern women's swim suit. She was a star attraction in vaudeville, Broadway shows, and was an early film star. The book is well written and has two sections of photographs.
Amazon.com
Her big movies are hard to find these days, and her name doesn't evoke the fan recognition awarded fellow MGM grads Lana Turner and Ava Gardner, yet for more than a decade during Hollywood's age d'or Esther Williams was one of the studio's most bankable leading ladies. An American beauty and swimming champ, she was hired at MGM in 1941 at age 18, and from then on starred in two or three thinly plotted "swimming musicals" a year--movies with titles like Neptune's Daughter, Million Dollar Mermaid, Easy to Love, and Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Her inevitable role was the pinup you could pin up at home, and it seems to have reflected her offstage personality too. Her long (400 pages) memoir is not always a miracle of narrative, but it includes a wealth of juicy gossip: Louis B. Mayer's rolling-on-the-floor tantrums; Gene Kelly's verbal cruelty on the set of Take Me Out to the Ball Game; her three failed marriages, including a long, draining one to Fernando Lamas; Lana Turner's name for Mayer ("Daddy"); Johnny Weismuller's backstage pursuit of her (naked); her own heat for Victor Mature ("unleashed"); and the LSD she tried in 1959 on Cary Grant's recommendation. Like so many other as-told-to books, the memories often feel self-serving, and there are plywood sentences even Lana Turner would choke on delivering. Disappointingly, Williams rarely shares what went on behind her lowered eyes and those buoyant cheekbones. --Lyall Bush
Book Description
During Hollywood's heyday, big studios battled over the next box-office attraction. While Gene Kelly danced and Judy Garland sang, Esther Williams swam into the heart of America with her dazzling smile, stunning aquabatics, and whole-some appeal. Hand-picked for stardom by movie mogul Louis B. Mayer, Esther shed her wide-eyed innocence at what she affectionately calls University MGM, a unique educational institution where sex appeal and glamour were taught, a school where idols were born. Once a national swimming champion and struggling salesgirl, overnight she became one of the most bankable stars in Hollywood. And though fame came quickly, Esther's personal life was often less than joyous. Through troubled marriages, cross-dressing lovers, financial bankruptcy, she shares the ups and downs of her extraordinary career in The Million Dollar Mermaid, a wildly entertaining behind-the-scenes account of one of Tinseltown's classic dream factories.
Customer Reviews:
A Fun Read........2007-03-20
I was looking for something to read while traveling, and remembered hearing some positive comments about this book. It was a really great to read about Hollywood back in it's golden age, with it's "larger than life" productions and actors.
A Good Read.......2006-09-09
I found this book fascinating from cover to cover. The glimpse into the world of MGM at its grandest is wonderful, and Esther herself is never dull. A page turner for movie fans. I agree with other reviews that Esther can come off badly in her "Do you know who I am?" attitude--it reads like she got really full of herself somewhere down the road. Plus, what kind of person stays married to a man who won't allow you to have a relationship with your own children? Sorry--there's no excuse. But this is a review of the book itself, not of the person, and it's a good read.
Ultimately a Dissapointment.......2006-06-12
I started out in admiration of how tough Esther Williams was. But I kept waiting for her to start having a decent personal life. At first, I thought how sad it was that people were unfeeling and cruel with her. (How is it that every single man she meets, btw, with a few barely mentioned exceptions, are cold, heartless and entirely self-absorbed? An LA thing?) But by the time she started having affairs of her own and marrying the domineering Lamas (she knew what she was getting herself into) I lost all respect or sympathy for her. Even so, I can't help liking her somehow and wishing things had been different. She seems like a friend that lets you down and yet you still want to like her.
In a way, it seems like something is missing...almost like you never completely can know or understand her.
I did find it very interesting to hear stories about life within MGM.
A psychological mystery.......2005-11-27
This would be a good book for student psychiatrists to study and write papers on. Neither Williams nor her ghostwriter Digby Diehl put the pieces of her psyche together. They take the easy road, that everything Williams became was driven by her need to replace her dead brother as the financial savior of her family, and yet not much of the book after the beginning mentions her family. No doubt, her brother's death was an element, but so was an early and shocking two years of sexual abuse at the hands of a teenage boarder. And more shocking, her family was so fond of the boy, they weren't appalled at what he had done. He wasn't reported to the authorities. Esther says she was disappointed with her family's reaction, got the boy to move out herself, and yet continued to support her family and doesn't mention the event again in the book.
Although she is able to control her career and resist being sexually used by studio bosses and co-stars who don't appeal to her, she turns around and tolerates the most horrible of husbands for years and years. One, who routinely embarrasses her, spends all her money and leaves her in debt, another, the famous Fernando Lamas, makes her literally a slave for 22 years. Yet she was loyal to a decision she made to make up to him for the early loss of his mother. What's going on here?
The combination of early sexual abuse and having to be the family breadwinner made Esther demand perfection of herself in everything she did, from swimming to movies to being a wife. And sometimes the requirement of perfection becomes irrational, and yet she doesn't perceive it. It is most obvious when she talks about neglecting her children because Fernando doesn't want children -- hers or his -- around. Some of the reviewers here blast her for this, but they forget that all during their lives, they were essentially raised by a nanny. Esther's idea of motherhood was dropping in from time to time, or controlling things from a distance, and she continued to do this, farming the kids out with relatives, when she was with Fernando.
At no point during this book does Esther turn on herself and see any flaws or faults, which is consistent with the denial one goes into after a horrific childhood. She strove for perfection, achieved it in many areas, and is quite content. At this point, she might as well -- if she is still alive at this writing -- continue on with the illusion. No point in undergoing any psychiatric treatment when you've managed this far. I know of people in my own life who are trying to be "perfect" to compensate for some messed up stuff when they were younger and who are in extraordinary denial about reality, so it was interesting to see another example of it here.
As many reviewers have commented, the book does seem very arrogant and then wildly perplexing when you get to the whole Fernando bondage years, but it's a textbook psycho case.
After seeing her do a long interview on Turner Classic Movies and hinting at some of the wilder sexual escapades in this book -- and she does dish the dirt on how wild men can be about their packages -- I was intrigued and able to buy it for a penny on Amazon.com, so it was well worth it.
Million dollar Mermaid debut as movie star.......2005-10-19
I loved this movie even as a child.Red Skelton's sketch at the ballet class is not only a riot but a classic act. The story itself is simplistic.Red is left pactically at the altar by a
furious Esther Williams. Red follows his wife only to be confronted by the fact that she is teaching at an all girls school.And so the fun begins. Loved Xavier Cugat's numbers and
although not a fan of Harry James still enjoyed the movie.If
you are after an old fashioned 90 minutes of entertainement then I suggest you get Bathing beauty. Oh, it is also Esther
first staring role(I am enjoying her autobiography at the moment).Recomend it.
PS review refers to Bathing beauty movie and her book.
Average customer rating:
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A High Opinion Of Oneself
Harry Emerson Fosdick
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Sermons
| Ministry & Church Leadership
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
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Missions & Missionary Work
| Evangelism
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ASIN: 1425368999 |
Book Description
THIS 24 PAGE ARTICLE WAS EXTRACTED FROM THE BOOK: Twelve Tests of Character, by Harry Emerson Fosdick. To purchase the entire book, please order ISBN 0766137457.
Product Description
Brings into focus a picture of the changing course of music with a religious message.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on November 9, 2002. The length of the article is 735 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Churches feature music, crafts, lectures.(Religion)
Publication:
The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: November 9, 2002
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: C17
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on January 12, 2002. The length of the article is 848 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Churches offer mix of music, dance, speakers.(Religion)
Publication:
The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: January 12, 2002
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: B6
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on December 28, 2002. The length of the article is 2846 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Churches to note new year with music.(Religion)
Publication:
The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: December 28, 2002
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: C15
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Average customer rating:
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Music doesn't make the Mass.(includes excerpts from readers' letters): An article from: U.S. Catholic
Jerry Daoust
Manufacturer: Claretian Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital
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ASIN: B00095MTPA
Release Date: 2005-07-28 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from U.S. Catholic, published by Claretian Publications on May 1, 1996. The length of the article is 1223 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
From the supplier: The issue of singing during Catholic Mass is discussed. Some people enjoy singing older well known songs, whereas others believe there is too much singing during Mass. Others criticize the use of guitars and believe church music should be kept simple and not turned into a big production.
Citation Details
Title: Music doesn't make the Mass.(includes excerpts from readers' letters)
Author: Jerry Daoust
Publication:
U.S. Catholic (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 1996
Publisher: Claretian Publications
Volume: v61
Issue: n5
Page: p20(5)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR), published by The Register Guard on July 21, 2002. The length of the article is 1037 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Music festival Shedds offices to make home in old church.(Entertainment)
Publication:
The Register-Guard (Eugene, OR) (Newspaper)
Date: July 21, 2002
Publisher: The Register Guard
Page: L1
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Presbyterian Record, published by Thomson Gale on October 1, 2006. The length of the article is 748 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Music is the mission: the Woods family uses fiddle music to help churches.(mission knocks)(Scott Woods )
Author: Amy Maclachlan
Publication:
Presbyterian Record (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 130
Issue: 9
Page: 45(1)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
For hopelessly addicted Santa carvers, this wonderful book will spur them to new heights and depths. Here are 60 of Al Streetman's whimsical, humorous caricature patterns, bringing exciting new dimensions to Santa carving. Al takes the carver step-by-step through the carving of a Santa flying on a candy cane to deliver his goods. It is fun to carve and, from Al's experience, is a good seller at carving shows. It offers a slight but not difficult challenge, and can be executed by novices and pros alike. The book provides some tips and tricks for head and hand carving. All in all, the perfect fix for the Santa craving., 105 color photos, patterns for 60 Santas, 8 1/2" x 11"
Amazon.com
Whether you seek protocol on accepting a formal invitation, turning down a job offer, challenging your credit record, writing a condolence letter, or penning a collection letter, How to Write It can help. With precision and humor, Sandra E. Lamb provides reliable guidance on all forms of written correspondence; for each type of communication, she considers such issues as content, wrong messages (how to eliminate them), format, effective writing, and editing. What in other hands might have been a dry reference manual takes on its own personality in the hands of this competent stylist. Lamb's advice for writing a memo, for instance, includes "Don't use an autocratic tone," "Don't assign blame," "Don't whine," "Don't pad," "Don't hedge," and "Don't use officious, stuffy, or formal words." Lamb is part etiquette adviser and part good-business guru. Perhaps her guide's most important message is that the general decline of written communication both socially and in business actually benefits those who still rely on it, as its impact is even greater than it once was. --Jane Steinberg
Book Description
Even the simplest notes can trigger procrastination, deliberation, and frustration in all of us. Thankfully, writing expert Sandra Lamb is here to provide tips for writing virtually all communications: emails, resumes, thank-you notes, collection letters, grant proposals, letters of complaint, press releases, and much more.
Customer Reviews:
How to Write It.......2007-09-17
I wish I had this book a long, long time ago. It really does cover all my writing needs.
How to Write It: A Complete Guide to Everything You'll Ever Write.......2007-03-27
For an underlying idea of how to approach the different kinds of everyday writing, this book has it all. I would not suggest copying letters word for word; however, there are focused phrases which apply to all situations and act as an inspiration for one's very own personalized letter. At the very least, this book demonstrates how to write with the appropriate tone, how to approach a topic and express succinct thoughts with grace and manners. This book makes a writer out of everyone.
Could have been better.......2005-04-05
This book is not bad but could have been better. There is a distinct tendency for the author to be repetitive and each example letter is shown in full, which results in a lot of (wasted) white space on the pages. Also, in my opinion, the book itself has been put together relatively cheaply; it's reminiscent of a large mass-market paperback. I prefer 'How to say it' by Rosalie Maggio which covers most of the same ground.
Useful.......2004-10-08
A lot of this stuff is already known to me, but this book is still beneficial to the average person who may forget the title format, etc. It's almost like a huge cheat sheet! The cover letter chapter and the magazine proposal chapter were the best and most useful for me. The organization and layout of this book are dynamite. Great job!
Errors.......2003-11-15
While a great reference, this book has many typographical and gramerical errors. It also is not categorized properly and reiterates the same facts over and over. It does however have great pointers on what to say in a letter. However its view is too simplistic for business writing. I would not suggest this book for a professional opinion. I would suggest it however for a day to day reference on personal letters.
Books:
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- The Round-Up: A Pictorial History of Western Movie and Television Stars Through the Years
- The Sexiest Man Alive : A Biography of Warren Beatty
- Thomas Hardy on Screen
- Understanding Curriculum As Racial Text: Representations of Identity and Difference in Education (Suny Series, Feminist Theory in Education)
- V Is for Vampire: The A-Z Guide to Everything Undead
- Vixens, Floozies and Molls: 28 Actresses of Late 1920s and 1930s Hollywood
- Vulgar Modernism: Writing on Movies and Other Media (Culture and the Moving Image Series)
- Walking with the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement
- We Were Soldiers: The Screenplay (The Wheelhouse screenplay series)
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Million Dollar Mermaid (1952)
TCM Spotlight - Esther Williams, Vol. 1 (Bathing Beauty / Easy to Wed / On an Island with You / Neptune's Daughter / Dangerous When Wet)
