Annette Kellerman
Acting
Biography
Australian-born swimming champion and actress, she played a significant role in the popularization of swimming as a sport, especially for women. Also known as "The Million Dollar Mermaid". Born Annette Marie Sarah Kellerman in Sydney, Australia, on July 6, 1886; died in Southport, Queensland, Australia, on the 6th November 1975; married James R. Sullivan (her manager), in 1912. She suffered from a form of Poliomyelitis that had left her partially crippled as a child. She had to wear an iron brace up to her hips. Her father pushed her to swim as a therapeutic means of overcoming this condition. Her legs were normal by the time she was 13 as a result. She began swimming competions while still a teenager and won the New South Wales swimming championships in 1902. She went to England in 1904 with her father and she won a 26-mile race on the Thames. With her brother as manager, came to U.S. and made first public appearance (1907); made first film, a kind of documentary, as early as 1909, and her last just before the end of the silent era; a champion swimmer, recognized health authority, and exponent of physical culture, was the first woman swimmer to achieve acclaim; is said to have devised the idea of formation swimming as an art, is credited with having introduced the single-piece swimsuit (even arrested for indecent exposure for wearing it) and did much to facilitate the entry of women into the aquatic sports by gradually making acceptable the kind of minimal swimwear necessary to allow freedom of movement and speed in the water; retired to her native Australia (1935). Awards: Holder of the world record for the two-, five- and ten-minute swimming championships. She was also the first woman to appear fully nude in a movie; "A Daughter of the Gods" (1916).
Known For
Breathtaking in its subtle beauty, Harvest is an achingly romantic tale of an innocent but ever increasingly passionate affair that develops between two simple farmhands. Life on a farm is all that sullen teen Marco knows- leading a perfunctory and quiet life of working, going to school and avoiding the advances of girls. However, his self-imposed solitude ends when curly-haired Jakob, rejecting the banking world for farming, arrives to train on the farm. Although initially cautious and tentative with each other, it is soon obvious that the unspoken sexual tension is becoming increasingly hard to resist - something a spontaneous trip to Berlin. Proving that true love can blossom in even the most unlikely of places, Harvest is as rich and rewarding as it is heart-warming.
Harvest
The daughter of King Neptune takes on human form to avenge the death of her young sister, who was caught in a fishing net. However, she falls in love with the king, the man she holds responsible.
Neptune's Daughter
Purity League father can't restrain his adventurous daughter from parading around in scanty bathing suits. Willy must learn how to fight in order to win her heart.
What Women Love
The National Red Cross Pageant (1917) was an American war pageant that was performed in order to sell war bonds, support the National Red Cross, and promote a positive opinion about American involvement in World War I.
National Red Cross Pageant
Annette Kellerman, the Australian swimming star of the early 1900s, made a number of films, most of them in the 1910s, which displayed her athletic skills. Most of these films were underwater fantasies, and this one was no exception. Here, Kellerman is Merilla, a mermaid who is the "Queen of the Sea." Not satisfied with being a mermaid, she wants a mortal human body with an immortal soul. She discovers she can achieve this if she saves four human lives.
Queen of the Sea
Story of Annette Kellerman, the international swimming vaudeville and silent screen star whose life story inspired the MGM classic Million Dollar Mermaid starring Esther Williams, which featured lavish Busby Berkeley scenes.
The Original Mermaid
A sultan agrees to help an evil witch destroy a mysterious beauty if the witch will bring his young son back to life. A lost film.
A Daughter of the Gods
Early short film dramatizing the biblical story of Jephthah (Judges 11).
Jephtah's Daughter: A Biblical Tragedy
Sir Walter Scott adaptation, existing in fragmentary form in the Library of Congress paper print collections.
The Bride of Lammermoor
The daughter of man who owns a South Seas pearl business falls in love with a wealthy traveler. Her father dies, leaving her the business. A greedy ship captain schemes to take the business from her.
Venus of the South Seas
Fantasy short starring Annette Kellerman as a Siren.