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Wednesday, August 19, 2009

E is for Esther

There was a woman in my church named Esther who recently moved from the United States to Japan to be closer to her husband. So it got me thinking about women named Esther.


The first one that came to mind was Esther Williams. The swimmer and actress turned 88 this month. According to the Wikipedia, "She was National AAU champion in the 100 meter freestyle. She planned to compete in the 1940 Summer Olympics but they were canceled to the outbreak of World War II." Her movies became just an excuse for elaborately choreographed swim scenes, as explained in a clip from the 1994 movie That's Entertainment. Here's her appearance on an American game show of the 1950s,What's My Line. As I've noted before, she and Ricardo Montalban were the first to popularize the classic tune "Baby, It's Cold Outside."

Esther Rolle was an American actress best known for playing the character Florida Evans on two programs produced by Norman Lear of All in the Family and Sanford and Son fame, Maude and Good Times. On Maude, she played a maid. Her playing the stereotypical black role made some people nervous and/or upset, but Maude was not your standard fare. In this clip, white liberal Maude hires a new housekeeper..." and from the moment she walks through the front door, Maude is determined to make her feel like an equal. However, her attempts lead Florida to decide to quit."

In 1974, Ms. Rolle starred in her own show, Good Times; it was a spinoff of a spinoff, since the Maude character had first shown up in All in the Family. Florida and her husband James (John Amos) raised their three children in an inner-city high rise apartment building. Here are clips from Good Times: Season One. In this clip, youngest son Michael gets suspended after insisting George Washington was a racist.

Esther Rolle died in 1998.


Above is a fresco of "Queen Esther" from 1450 by Italian artist Andrea Del Castagno. You can read about the Biblical character here, and commentary here. Her actions brought about the Jewish holiday of Purim. The interesting thing about the Book of Esther is that God is never specifically mentioned.

There was a play at my former church a couple decades ago, and I got to play the evil Haman.

I always thought of Esther as an old-fashioned name, but as this list from Social Security Administration, the appellation, which means star, among other things, has never ranked below #350 in the list of most popular baby girl names in the United States since records started being kept back in in 1880.

Popularity of the female name Esther: Year of birth/ Rank
2008 274 (1,235 babies)
2007 275
2006 290
2005 281
2004 297
2003 289
2002 300
2001 300
2000 330
1999 319
1998 323
1997 319
1996 320
1995 308
1994 289
1993 301
1992 300
1991 301
1990 285
1989 290
1988 277
1987 288
1986 288
1985 289
1984 272
1983 274
1982 267
1981 273
1980 297
1979 315
1978 321
1977 311
1976 336
1975 320
1974 315
1973 312
1972 333
1971 332
1970 348 (724 babies)
1969 337
1968 322
1967 314
1966 290
1965 280
1964 286
1963 263
1962 252
1961 238
1960 234
1959 232
1958 227
1957 217
1956 209
1955 201
1954 193
1953 192
1952 180
1951 169
1950 162
1949 162
1948 155
1947 162
1946 151
1945 160
1944 152
1943 152
1942 143
1941 138
1940 131
1939 117
1938 120
1937 116
1936 107 (2,252 babies)
1935 94
1934 91
1933 88
1932 82
1931 79
1930 77
1929 71
1928 66
1927 64
1926 62
1925 56
1924 51
1923 47
1922 44
1921 42
1920 39
1919 38
1918 38
1917 38
1916 34
1915 33
1914 35
1913 32 (4,088 babies)
1912 33
1911 34
1910 38
1909 37
1908 36
1907 37
1906 33
1905 34
1904 32
1903 34
1902 35
1901 33
1900 39
1899 29
1898 31
1897 28
1896 27
1895 31
1894 36
1893 39
1892 67
1891 66
1890 75
1889 75
1888 77
1887 79
1886 85
1885 92
1884 99
1883 99
1882 97
1881 105
1880 104 (198 babies)


ROG

26 comments:

anthonynorth said...

The name Esther has remained steady in the UK - not a great number of them, but no matter how much I've moved around, I can always recall one.

Reader Wil said...

Excellent Roger! All Esthers are terrific. Recently I saw the musical"Esther"performed by members of our church in our churchbuilding. It was great to see all those men and women, normally sitting modestly listening to a sermon, now dancing and singing.

squirrel said...

Nice take on the "E". You found some great ones. Thanks.

Strawberry Jam Anne said...

I remember Esther Williams too but the others are unfamiliar to me. I believe Esther is a biblical name.

April said...

Wonderful post! I loved Esther Rolle in Good Times and always thought she was such an elegant lady. I have not read The Book of Esther yet.

jay said...

Loved the clips - I've never seen that show. Sad losses, both of them.

Yes, I think the name Esther has remained fairly consistently popular over here.

EG CameraGirl said...

I love the name Esther. It was my grandmother's name and she was wonderful! ;-)

Granny Smith said...

This is a delightful take on the name Esther! It is a bit of a shock to realize that she and I are both 88 this year (next week for me). I remember the actresses well, having enjoyed them on screen and TV - although I don't remember Esther Williams really acting much. She was beautiful and a great swimmer, though.

Janie said...

Exceptional Esthers listed here. I didn't realize the name had remained popular through the years.

Q said...

A very interesting and creative e.
Thanks for the clip.
Sherry

Joy said...

You've presented a nice collection of Esthers. Esther William's films were amazingly elaborate. Wonder if she still swims.

B i r g i t t a said...

We have Ester in Sweden as well :)

Rebecca Hickman said...

I used to work on Esther Rolle Blvd!

Rebecca Hickman said...

At a library.
Our high school janitorette was named Esther Williams. She was so beautiful that we wondered if she was the movie star.

Beverley Baird said...

What a great E - Esther is such a biblical name. Loved both actresses. Lots of great info as usual.
Thanks for stopping by.

Judi said...

A very nice choice for 'E'. I remain a big fan of Esther Rolle.

Lin said...

Good choice for E and so informative! I liked Eshter Rolle, although I didn't know that that was her real name. Thanks for stopping by!

GreensboroDailyPhoto said...

Loved the story of the moving of the school house, your "D". Thanks for sharing. And, this Esther post is very interesting. So much to learn on these blogs!

Ann, Chen Jie Xue 陈洁雪 said...

I have a student Esther. She is a Samoan. She is 6 years old, so that adds another to your statistics if yours did not include the Island of Samoa.

Thanks for visiting.

~JarieLyn~ said...

I really enjoyed reading your Esther posts. When I was little I used to watch Good Times. It was definitely one of the regular shows on in our household. I really appreciate all the research you did to make this post interesting. it was wonderful to read.

magiceye said...

exhaustive esther list!

Tumblewords: said...

Excellent Esthers!

kamz said...

This a good E! When we moved here in Germany, I already met 3 Esters (without the "H"). LOL!

Btw, Europa Park is in Rust, Germany (near Freiburg) in the state of Baden-Wuerttemberg.

Trillium said...

Hi, thanks for checking out my blog and your appreciative comment.
I thought I'd return the favor. Love this Esther post-what a hoot!
I have an aunt Esther who died before I was born and I wish I had known her.

Dragonstar said...

I've always had the feeling that Esther is a bit old fashioned, but it's a pretty name. Thanks for the info about Esthers.

Thanks also for the visit!

Anonymous said...

Hello,

Please take a moment to check out a bio attached below for the late, incomparable, Emmy-award winning actress Ms. Esther Rolle. It is a very well known site about 50 of the most famous people with diabetes, like Ms. Rolle. The list also includes Marlon Brando, Morgan Freeman, Halle Berry, Mick Fleetwood, Howard Hughes, Ernest Hemingway, Jackie Robinson, and Thomas Edison. Look how highly they speak of Philly native Rel Dowdell's critically acclaimed and hit film "Train Ride" on there! They made it her principal film credit. That not only speaks volumes about the quality of Rel's film but also the universal importance and relevance the film has continued to have. Please check out Rel's website to see a great picture of Ms. Rolle and Rel: www.reldowdell.com. Ms. Rolle literally sacrificed her health during her last days, rearranging her dialysis treatment, to fly from LA to Philadelphia to participate in the film. "Train Ride" was the heralded actress' very last project and the film was dedicated to her indelible memory.

Please also take a moment to check out this great new 4 star review of "Train Ride" (Sony Pictures) by the noted film review website for "The World's Greatest Critic." It is definitely one not to be missed. It is very rare that the African-American film/filmmaker gets this type of review, esp. nowadays. www.worldsgreatestcritic.com/trainride.html

"Train Ride," a searing, universal drama about the horrors and lasting effects of date rape on a fictional African-American college campus, was also called "one of the best American films of 2005" by esteemed 30 year veteran film critic Gerald Peary, and has been on the Amazon.com best selling films' list for over 3 years now. "Train Ride" also stars an electric Wood Harris (from the HBO series "The Wire"), female rap pioneer M.C. Lyte, Russell Hornsby ("Lincoln Heights"), Guru, Joe Clair, and KaDee Strickland from "American Gangster."

Check out the trailer for "Train Ride" here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l1ZO4JZcpyw

Also, please check out below these links from members on
one of the top film websites in the world, Flixster. They all have
"Train Ride" as one of their favorite films. The last one even has
it on there with "The Godfather" and "The Shawshank Redemption."

http://www.flixster.com/user/sweetaspie38312273/movie-list/my-favorite-movies

http://www.flixster.com/user/mzvontaisayzdangicnt/movie-list/my-favorite-movies

http://www.flixster.com/user/meka378858536/movie-list/my-favorite-movies

http://www.flixster.com/user/uaintgotnuttinonme29/movie-list/my-favorite-movies

http://www.flixster.com/user/cello08/movie-list/my-favorite-movies

Get "Train Ride" today from the link below!
http://www.amazon.com/Train-Ride-Sean-Anderson-VII/dp/B00079Z9S2/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1245104835&sr=1-1

Thanks for listening!
Robert McKnight
spreading the word about good and important films/filmmakers

By Christopher Berry
Published 02/5/2008


http://www.diabeticlive.com/articles/196/16/diabetic-lives-Top-50-Celebrities-With-Diabetes/Page16.