Chasing Esther WilliamsPedro |
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COMSUBBBS Posts: 2974 Location: Liverpool, England | Subject: Chasing Esther Williams As most people know Esther Williams, that lovely old swimming star of the silver screen, sadly passed away recently. It was by pure chance that I found this fascinating story in a copy of the Australian Navy News that involves Esther, or rather a signed photograph of her, that was to become a desirable object of theft over the past sixty-odd years by ships companies of the Australian, British, Canadian and American navies. I'm sure that Miss Williams herself would have been thrilled to have known of this tale and I hope the good lady got to hear about it before she took her own last dive . http://www.defence.gov.au/news/navynews/editions/4712/topstories/story01.htm Pedro  Edited by Pedro 2013-07-14 7:29 PM | ||
| Sid Harrison |
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Great Sage of the Sea Posts: 590 Location: Colton, NY | |||
| Pedro |
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COMSUBBBS Posts: 2974 Location: Liverpool, England | Subject: RE: Chasing Esther Williams Sid, Thanks for the further info on the Esther Williams saga. Somehow I can’t see modern-day movie actresses inspiring that kind of boyish enthusiasm and behaviour amongst our naval personnel especially sixty years after the tradition began. Just for the record on actress’s favours and the military: I remember hearing of a USN unit of Seabees that were given a silk scarf and lace handkerchief by Susan Hayward when she made the movie "The Fighting Seabees" in 1943/44 and that they are still in the veteran’s HQ in the U.S. Story goes that her co-star John Wayne did not share Susan's popularity with the navy construction crews. During the shooting they took a dislike to him as an arrogant big-mouthed draft dodger. This being their general opinion of the man himself, it would surely not have done Big John’s ego very much good at all. I also recall the submarine HMS Tiptoe which had a pair of red ballet shoes in a glass case in the Chief Petty Officer's mess. The boats crest depicted a ballerina performing a pirouette. They had been presented to the boat by Moira Shearer, the famous ballerina, following a visit by her when making the film "The Red Shoes" in 1948. They are currently in the Royal Navy Submarine Museum in Gosport. Pedro | ||
| Tom McNulty |
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Master and Commander Posts: 1472 | |||
