Quotes from Esther Williams

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

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

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.

I think it's so funny when people think they can't control a movie star. They can. We're just women, you know.

The newspapers loved pinup pictures of pretty young swimmers, and as a national champion, I got more than my share of space in the sports pages.

Life magazine ran a page featuring me and three other girls that was clearly the precursor of Sports Illustrated swimsuit issues.

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.

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

By the time I got home at night, my eyes were so chlorinated I saw rings around every light.

When you're out of sight for as long as I was, there's a funny feeling of betrayal that comes over people when they see you again.

Critics established a snobbery toward me.

When you're out of sight for as long as I was, there's a funny feeling of betrayal that comes over people when they see you again.

Once I married Fernando, I became invisible.

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

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.

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

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

There was a policy at Hughes against drinking at lunch, but the men ignored it

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

I think it's so funny when people think they can't control a movie star. They can. We're just women, you know

I ended up buying a restaurant. Already we had invested in a gas station and a metal products plant.

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.