Esther Williams was the undisputed queen bee of one of the most baffling sub-genres of Hollywood’s Golden Age: the Aqua Musicals of the 40s and 50s. No one rose out of the pool depths—with perfect makeup and a smile, no less—quite like Williams. But who was she really?

Competitive athlete? Pretty pin-up? Feisty feminist? Kept woman? Esther Williams somehow managed to be, at different times in her life, all of these things and so much more.

But it was her utterly wild personal life—and the way she exposed it all in her memoirs, down to the most surprising details—that really made her story a true roller coaster ride of scandal and controversy.