ANNETTE KELLERMAN

Annette Kellerman (known as "Annette Kellermann" early in her career) was an Australian swimming star who was born with deformed legs, but overcame that through swimming (she tried to swim the English Channel three times and failed, but that notoriety made her an international star!). She parlayed that fame into a career as an actress, always in "swimming" movies from the 1900s to the 1920s. Her nickname was "The Diving Venus", and she was arrested in Boston in 1907 for wearing a then-scandalous one-piece bathing suit! She continued to be controversial and she had a nude appearance in "A Daughter of the Gods", believed to be the first nude scene in a major movie. Some of her films include: Venus of the South Seas, Neptune's Daughter, and Queen of the Sea. A biography of her called "Million Dollar Mermaid" was filmed in 1952 starring Esther Williams. Kellerman passed away in 1975 at the age of 88.