Esther Williams, actress and swimming star, dies at 91

US swimming champion-turned-movie star Esther Williams has died in Los Angeles aged 91.

Her spokesman said she died peacefully in her sleep. She had been in declining health due to old age, BBC reports.

A national swimming champion by the time she was 16, her success led to a career in Hollywood "aqua-musicals" designed just for her, in the 1940s.

She became known as Hollywood's Mermaid, starring in films including Dangerous When Wet and Easy to Wed.
Williams became one of cinema's biggest box-office stars in the 1940s and 1950s, famously appearing in spectacular swimsuits that capitalised on her physical beauty.

Her films were typically lavish song-and-dance affairs, following the same formula of romance, music and comedy - held together by a lightweight plot that provided infinite excuses for the actress to get into the water.
Finales usually featured Williams diving into a pool or lagoon and surfacing to a crescendo of music, with water glistening on her beaming face.

Her string of successful films included Thrill of a Romance, Fiesta, On an Island With You and Duchess of Idaho.
Co-stars included Gene Kelly, Frank Sinatra, Red Skelton, Ricardo Montalban and Howard Keel.