Esther Williams Dipped Her Toes on This Side of the Hill, Too

Esther Williams died today at the age of 91. 

She was known for being a Beverly Hills grand dame most of her life and her career, but she also stepped over the hill to Sherman Oaks and Studio City a lot as well.

She was honored a bunch of times at the Sportsmen's Lodge in Studio City, most recently, in 2010 at the Golden Halo Awards sponsored by the Southern California Motion Picture Council.

She supped at the Tail O' the Cock that used to be in Studio City. She preferred going to the theater in the La Reina in Sherman Oaks. 

She owned a place out in Amestoy Estates for a while near the border of Sherman Oaks and Encino (in the mid-1940s) and she loved to shop in the more quiet Ventura Boulevard, where the fans were less bothersome than they were on Rodeo Drive or Sunset Boulevard.

Irene, the one-named tailor based in Studio City, was the go-to person for Esther Williams. 

Irene the Dressmaker's website still says:

When "America's Mermaid, " actress and former competitive swimmer Esther Williams could no longer rely on the wardrobe wizards at MGM, she turned to Irene's Tailoring.

ON A PERSONAL NOTE: During one of the International Press Academy parties Esther attended not long after her stroke in 2007 and I sat with her by the pool at the Beverly Hills Hotel. She told me stories about how the hotel gave her a bungalow when she was a young girl just so that she would practice her swimming at the hotel. She also told me about how Howard Hughes was very interested in her (and yes, there were some stories I promised never to write about!)  She loved coming to the Valley to play golf as well because she was snubbed once for wearing a pantsuit at the Beverly Hills Country Club, but never got that attitude at the private golf clubs in the Valley. She was an amazing woman! —m

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