Florida People: Esther Williams, actress & champion swimmer, dies at 91.
Esther Williams has died at the age of 91. She was at one time one of the most popular movie stars and internationally known for her swimming ability. Most of her films involved her swimming to one degree or the other. Dick Pope, stalwart promoter and owner of the largest Florida attraction at the time, Cypress Gardens, figured away to promote more. He proceeded to build a Florida shaped pool, above, in the cypress swampy to land Cypress Gardens as the setting an Esther Williams film. She ended up making three films in Florida and two television specials at Cypress Gardens.
About the Florida pool: the current owners, who have LegoLand in place of Cypress Gardens these days, filled in the pool a few years ago.
The photo above is from ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’ by Esther Williams.
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