Ann Blyth in an underwater shot publicity photo as Lenore the Mermaid in Mr. Peabody and the Mermaid (1948). The warmer days have many of us wishing to go swimming, but perhaps not like the conditions under which Ann went for this swim in the studio set pool. From my book, Ann Blyth: Actress. Singer. Star.:
Lead weights were placed in the bottom of the tail by her feet—some
references say thirty pounds, some say fifty pounds—to keep the rubber tail,
and the person wearing it, from floating to the surface of the water.
Sounds as ominous as stories of mobsters fitting their victims with “cement
shoes.”
...[Co-star Andrea] King recalled that though the tank was supposed to be heated, the water
heater malfunctioned and the water was quite cold in the tank. “So we
tried anyway for about half an hour, but Annie and I just went numb. I
think she got terribly sick after that.”
If you have the good luck to go swimming soon, leave the fish tail at home and don't forget the sunscreen.
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