So a while back I researched and wrote an article for a magazine that
was NEVER printed. Years later, I figure I'd share some of the cool info
I found.
Annette Kellerman, as far as history knows, was the first professional
mermaid! Here's on of her self-made mermaid tails she performed in
underwater, 100 years ago!
Here's a copy of my article, I think you'd find it interesting!
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I first came across the story of Annette Kellerman before I'd ventured
into the world of professional mermaiding while researching. A now long
gone tail making company claimed her as their inspiration and a few
trips to youtube showed me why- Annette was an underwater performer
who'd been in movies wearing a mermaid tail and at the Hippodrome in New
York in giant glass tanks. While this isn't a completely new idea now a
days with places like Weeki Wachi; in the early 1900's Annette was
ground breaking.
I could certainly identify with why the tail company idolized her as a
mermaid but as I began to do a few internet searches I found my own
independent reasons. Kellerman had been afflicted with a type of
paralysis and used her swimming as therapy. Kellerman had to wear braces
on her legs and her disability kept her very isolated until she found
swimming at age 7. She'd swim with her brothers and push herself
constantly taking huge joy in the little difference she's notice in her
legs as she swam. As her legs and fitness got better she began to swim
competitively. She'd swim any chance she got and even accepted dares
from local boys to dive from high altitudes. She felt like she could do
anything in the water. She went against many odds to win her first
title at the age of 15 (beating men in sprint races!) then she set a
world record for the mile.
I was using getting a tail as motivation to continue painful
physiotherapy for a similar ailment and while I didn't have hopes of
breaking any records I envied my fellow mers who seems to have had no
trouble in or out of the water while I couldn't make it up the stairs
some days. Kellerman inspired me with her swimming feats and I would
eagerly search our anything I could find about her. Her recording
breaking races were only the tip of the iceberg.
Kellerman's family was finding it hard to make ends meet when she and
sister went to look for jobs at the local aquarium. Her sister made a
joke about Kellerman performing with the fish and Kellerman took it
seriously proposing the idea to the Melbourne aquarium. After she
created her own swimming performance routine it wasn't long before she'd
acquired a long glittery mermaid tail and earned the nickname
"Mermaid". She had what has been described in many biography pieces an
"incredible breath hold " that people would come from miles around to
see. Kellerman used the money she made to support her family though her
mother disapproved of her spending her days swimming with seals and
eels.
In 1904 Kellerman was becoming quite known in Australia and on a leap of
faith she and her Father moved to England with him acting as her
manager. It was hard work when they first arrived and no one seemed to
notice Kellerman's abilities and their small amount of funds was
dwindling. She decided to change that when she announced she would swim
a section of the Thames. At the end of June she made good on her word
and dove into dirty water and did the 42-km swim. No man had ever
attempted this let alone a woman so people from all over flocked to see
her. The next day she was on the front page of the daily newspaper with
the name "Australian Mermaid".
Her Father continued to book stunts and performances for her and very
quickly she began performing each feat one after the other. She swam the
British Coast, competed in races against men, and performed an
underwater ballet at London's Hippodrome theatre (which can be seen in
the movie about her life
Million Dollar Mermaid) Kellerman
performed any chance she could even for the Royalty of the time. She
attempted three times to swim the English Channel and it was the only
goal she set that she didn't make.
Click here to view the original image of 640x360px.
In 1907 with her tiny costumes in tow Kellerman headed to Chicago where
she continued to entertain. She became the highest paid vaudeville star
in the US and her Father decided to appoint a new manager; Jimmie
Sullivan. It was planned that Sullivan would handle all her bookings as
well as keep distracting men at bay. Sullivan couldn't swim but poured
all of his energies into supporting Kellerman and he became her main
support when her father passed away and they soon fell in love and moved
to Boston.
Kellerman it turned out was a champion for women's rights and very much
responsible for the modern day swim suit for women. In her day women
were expected to swim in bathing gowns and forbidden to show any bare
leg so she first started with a sort of unitard skin tight suit. A few
historical websites claim that she propelled that look into stardom as
it started to be worn all over by celebrities. In 1908 Kellerman makes
the jump to a bathing suit that shows her thigh and is arrested for it
in Boston with Sullivan by her side- a scene dramatized in the movie
about her life
Million Dollar Mermaid. Kellerman managed to have
the case dismissed by proving to the judge how previous swim outfits
were too restrictive. Her look became the main style on both the beach
and in advertisements.
The scandal didn't go unnoticed and a Harvard University Professor named
Dudley Sargent propositioned her to be able to study her unique body.
Sargent had been researching the female body for 25 years and after
taking her measurements he believed she was the first woman whose
measurements were almost that of the Venus De Milo. He was so sure of
this he pulled her on stage at Harvard in her bathing suit and declared
to his students that she was the real "perfect woman". She started to
gain so much attention from then on for her looks though she preferred
to be known for her capabilities and fitness. She expressed that she did
not want "to be known as just a pretty fish".
Kellerman married Sullivan in 1914 and quickly following her successful
swimming career she branched out into movies (a few clips you can still
find online). She told people she was tired of "flopping around in
tanks" and did her first major movie
Neptune's Daughter and her
mother was able to see it and give her approval before passing away
shortly after. Kellerman was happy to finally act in a movie and didn't
mind the swimming part of it though she mentioned "this trained seal
stuff gets on ones nerves".
Kellermans legs are barer and barer as she pushes the limits of what's
accepted and actresses around the world embrace. In 1916 she took this a
step further and while breaking boundaries by starring in the film
A Daughter of the Gods
which was the first movie to cost over 1 million dollars, Kellerman
appears as a nude goddess and the movie was a roaring success. The movie
featured 150 "mermaids" all trained by Kellerman and she performed
dangerous stunts such as diving with crocodiles that she made everyone
on cast keep quiet from her husband until the movie premiered! She never
had a body double and attributed her healthy coordinated body to her
fitness and being a vegetarian.
Kellerman started to evolve into a business woman and began giving
lectures on fitness and health (unheard of in those days especially for a
woman). She wrote what is believed to be the first ever diet and
fitness book
Physical Beauty: How to Keep It and designed and
marketed the very first modern day swimsuit which was a version of her
own with a small skirt for modesty. She was really the first woman to
come up with simple exercises women could do at home and fit into their
usual routines and she encouraged women to find their talent.
Kellerman was offered a five-movie deal with Fox but she turned it down
in order to pursue theatre and she toured America performing with the
likes of Grace Kelly and Coco Chanel. In 1937 when theatre sales began
to lag she moved to Florida where she worked on many charities and even
advised President Roosevelt on exercises for his polio-affected leg. In
1939 she returned to Australia to live by the Great Barrier Reef and
humours legends unfurled of a Kellerman who swam shark infested waters
to do her shopping and hitched rides back on local boats.
During the war in the 40's she went home to Australia and entertained
troops and raised money for the red cross through performances.
Kellerman started to fade into the background with age until the movie
Million Dollar Mermaid
a biography about her life came out and she was once again the center
of attention. At 65 she said little about the movie except that the
actress who portrayed her was beautiful though she didn't care much for
anything below her neck. Kellerman lived out the rest of her days
swimming and keeping fit though people began to forget who she was they
still marvelled at this young looking elderly woman who swam in a body
suit daily. People said Kellerman did not accept the limits of aging and
before her death could still show how nimble she was. Kellerman passed
away in 1975. She was and still is regarded as a trailblazer for women's
rights and I believe if a mermaid is to look up to anyone it should be
her. She overcame illness, was the first mermaid with a tail, the first
to perform in a tank on stage, and knew the value of nude art. The
movie
Million Dollar Mermaid is a unique tribute to her life that
would be loved by mers everywhere so give it a watch and give her an
internet search and you may just find she'll be your mer-role model too.
Sources:
http://www.bikiniscience.com
http://www.unpleasantdreams.com/annettekellerman
http://au.lifestyle.yahoo.com/marie-...orgotten-icon/
