[UPDATE] Hollywood screen icon Esther Williams dead at 91 Actress Esther Williams, 82, known for her aquatic Hollywood film musicals takes a curtain call bow on October 27, 2003 on the stage of New York's City Center during the 9th annual "Career Transition for Dancers" gala. UPI/Ezio Petersen LOS ANGELES, June 6 (UPI) -- Actress and champion swimmer Esther Williams died Thursday at her home in Beverly Hills, Calif., her family spokesman said. She was 91. Publicist Harlan Boll told The Hollywood Reporter Williams died peacefully in her sleep. The exact cause of her death was not immediately disclosed. Williams was best known for her work in a series of aquatic-themed MGM movie musicals in the 1940s and '50s. Among her film credits are "Bathing Beauty," "Take Me Out to the Ball Game," "Easy to Love" and "Million Dollar Mermaid." No one had ever done a swimming movie before, so we just made it up as we went along. I ad-libbed all my own underwater movements," Williams once said.