Once again, Grantlee Keiza shines a light into a forgotten corner of our history with this detailed biography of yet another of Australia’s impressive achievers. This book is thoroughly researched with a detailed list of references and many illustrations.
In this first biography of Annette Kellerman, Keiza brings to life yet another of Australia’s forgotten pioneers. Given her impressive accomplishments and eventful life, it is remarkable that she is not better remembered. But who exactly was Annette Kellerman? More than 50 years before Dawn Fraser was breaking swimming records at the Melbourne Olympics, another Australian woman achieved similar national and international fame.
This biography begins with her colourful family of origin who were involved in the arts and progresses right through to her international fame and cosmopolitan lifestyle. The key to her later success lay in her early childhood, in her tenacity to overcome a physical disability; rickets. Initially she took up aquatic exercise to strengthen her bones, a fact which led to extraordinary athleticism. Beginning as a therapy, her swimming evolved into an impressive career. She developed her skills into breathtaking displays including diving from great heights drawing huge crowds and national publicity. Not only did she break records, even when competing against male swimmers, she performed all manner of displays in enormous glass tanks.
Venus of the South Seas poster
A born performer, her feats in the water were soon transferred the budding field of motion pictures. Her international fame soon had the studios of Hollywood calling. As a result she became Australia’s first international screen star. Moreover, her silent films were not low-budget affairs but major screen epics shot on exotic locations such as Jamaica and Bermuda and involving (and recouping) big budgets to cater for elaborate sets and thousands of extras.
Her fame as an athlete extended well into the 1950s when Hollywood decided to to make a biopic of her life: ‘Million Dollar Mermaid’ starring Esther Williams.] Although mainly Hollywood hype the film reflects some of her pragmatic ideas. Previously, Victorian propriety constrained women bathers in skirts over bloomers and required they cover all their limbs. This was not conducive to speed in the water so Kellerman designed a more practical one-piece bathing costume which quickly became the standard for female swim wear.
Not only does this biography remind us of one of Australia’s pioneers, Indirectly it highlights another aspect of of our screen history. Nowadays many Aussies have made it in international cinema – Nicole Kidman, Guy Pierce, Kate Blanchett to name a few. However, Australian involvement in cinema has a much longer history.
‘Annette Kellerman Australian Mermaid’ by Glantlee Keiza. ABC Books, Sydney, 2025.
Australians were at the forefront of cinema from the very beginning. Australia is credited with producing the world’s first feature film ‘The Story of the Kelly Gang’ in 1906 created long before their was a film industry in Hollywood. Furthermore, the dynamic film making team the McDonagh sisters are now largely forgotten. Unfortunately, few of these cinematic milestones survive intact: no complete version of any of the McDonough films exists and only about seventeen minutes are known to survive of the first feature film (which originally ran for seventy minutes). This neglect is typical of Australian achievements in the field of cinema.
Kellerman’s silent films have suffered a similar fate. Only one of her silent films is known to survive in its complete form: ‘Venus of the South Seas’ – a US/New Zealand co-production. This loss of her films no doubt contributed to her later obscurity.
Another aspect of her screen career deserves mention. During the early days of popular motion pictures, she pushed the boundaries of screen censorship. For example in one of her first major films – ‘A Daughter of the Gods’ (1916) – she appears almost naked as do other female extras. Although censorships laws were yet to be formalised into one consistent code, this was a radical step considering it occurred more than a century ago. Unfortunately, this film is now considered lost.
Kellermann in nude scene from A Daughter of the Gods
Kellerman’s achievements were not limited to athletics and motion pictures. Through various publications she pioneered the role of diet and exercise in healthy living. She did not smoke or drink alcohol and was a vegetarian for most of her life. Although she was promoting this more than a century ago, this healthy lifestyle advocacy now seems very contemporary.
Annette Kellerman was a pioneer in many fields: athletics, feature films, healthy lifestyle advocacy and even fashion. But perhaps most important of all, through her determination and talent, she pioneered a role for women in professional sport.
Like Keiza’s previous biographies, we learn about an exceptional life which is largely forgotten. This biography goes some way to rectifying this neglect.
Fifty years after her death, Annette Kellerman can finally be given her due.