Annette Kellerman was born in Australia on July 6, 1987. Her father was a violinist and here mother was a music teacher. Annette suffered from rickets as a girl. She wore steel braces to strengthen her legs. Her parents enrolled her in swim classes to help with her legs. She won her first race at age 15 and went on to international acclaim as a swimmer. She set records for swimming. She once swan under water for 3 minutes and 27 seconds. She did exhibitions like swimming with fish in a giant aquarium. She did high dives for a show in a theater. She originated synchronized swimming in a large tank in NYC. In 1907, she created a stir and was arrested for indecency at a dsbeach near Boston when she wore a one-piece swim suit. It exposed her arms and legs. She started a clothing line to sell one-piece suits. She helped popularize going in the water by females. She went on to an acting career. Her most famous movie was “Daughter of the Gods” in 1916. She became the first major star to appear nude in a movie. Most of her movies centered on her swimming. She played a mermaid in some of her films. In 1952, a biopic was made of her called “Million Dollar Mermaid”. It starred her successor as the queen of female swimming movies, Esther Williams. She was vegetarian and opened a health food store and health spas. In 1908, a Harvard professor determined that her measurements were the same as the Venus de Milo. She was proclaimed “Australia’s Perfect Woman” because of this. She married her manager and they remained married for 63 years. They died a few days apart in 1975.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annette_Kellerman
https://recollections.biz/blog/11-facts-annette-kellerman-edwardian-swimming-star/
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