“I gave my eardrums to MGM. And it’s true: I really did.” — Esther Williams

“I gave my eardrums to MGM. And it’s true: I really did.” — Esther Williams

“Critics established a snobbery toward me.” — Esther Williams My formal introduction to aquatic-mermaid-star Esther Williams wasn’t through her movies. Oh, I may have seen some of the numbers on the various afternoon movies shown on local TV, where I first saw the old movies that made me a movie fan. But no, not for Esther. I learned about Esther Williams through Judy Blume. When I was a kid, 9 or 10 years old, my favorite book of hers was Starr…