It’s hard to find a niche in Hollywood, but swimming champion Esther Williams did just that.

Williams, who had been poised to compete for the 1940 Olympics which were eventually cancelled due to World War II, referred to her Hollywood career as her “consolation prize” in her autobiography “The Million Dollar Mermaid.” She made the most of it, however, with MGM making her a huge player and even building her own extravagant pool in MGM’s Studio 30 according to the New York Times.

Here are some highlights of Williams’s work:

Her non-swimming movies did not fare so well, and eventually she retired after what is looked upon as a very illustrious career during Hollywood’s golden era.

Mrs. Williams was 91.