The turn of the 20th century was a time when rules for women were many — and Australian movie star Annette Kellerman defied most of them.

She was the first woman to appear naked on film, had a passion for driving fast cars, was vegetarian before it was widely accepted, and performed all her own stunts — including jumping into a pit of live crocodiles.

She was a Jill-of-all-trades, known around the world for her swimming records, 14 silent movie appearances, spectacular vaudeville act and underwater ballet.

But one title arguably sums up any others: "bad-ass".

That's the summation of the National Film and Sound Archive's Beth Taylor, who has produced a new exhibition about Kellerman.

"She just was never doing what was expected of her, but she managed to do it with such a flair that she didn't seem to get into too much trouble," says Ms Taylor, who hopes to revive Kellerman's story.

"She's the woman that we need to be reading about."

Kellerman starred in 14 silent movies and performed all her own film stunts. ( Supplied: National Film and Sound Archive )

A woman who defied expectation

Kellerman was born in Sydney, and from an early age made it clear she wasn't going to follow the trajectory expected of a woman of her time.

"She was born in 1886 when women's roles were very much expected to be in the home," Ms Taylor says.

Yet by 16, Kellerman held swimming world records and by 19 had moved to London, where she became the first woman to try to swim the English Channel.

It became apparent early on that Kellerman wasn't going to follow the path expected of women of her generation. ( Supplied: National Film and Sounds Archive )

Also striking for her time was Kellerman's willingness to express her sexuality — and doing so without getting the public off-side.

When, in the early 1900s, Kellerman had had enough of women's swimwear — woollen dresses with pantaloons she likened to a millstone around her neck — she adapted a men's swimming costume.

It was a more practical — and more revealing — alternative.

"That caused a real stir for people at the time, to see a woman wearing a figure-hugging garment that didn't completely cover her up," Ms Taylor says.

"That was sort of the beginning of her interesting relationship with sexuality in a public arena."

Kellerman shocked by swapping restrictive women's swimwear for an adapted men's costume. ( Supplied: National Film and Sound Archive )

Kellerman is also known as being the first woman to appear nude on film, in the 1916 silent film A Daughter of the Gods.

"She does have a wig that she wears that covers some of her body, but you still see an awful lot," Ms Taylor says.

"Even by today's standards it's quite shocking."

The film, a three-hour epic, cost $1 million to make.

"In those days that was a huge amount of money," says Ms Taylor, "and it made a lot of money at the box office".

Kellerman's marketing nous was at least partly responsible for the film's success.

"She understood how to get noticed — how to cause just enough controversy that her films were going to be a smash hit, but not actually get herself into hot water," Ms Taylor says.

"I think both men and women loved that about her."

It drove her fame, which followed her as she moved around the world. Kellerman lived in Europe, then the United States, before moving back to Australia in the 1930s.

She didn't enjoy certain labels she had flung at her — 'the perfectly formed woman', for example, as she was named by a Harvard academic, was one she described as "ghastly".

But, once stuck with the labels, she used them to her advantage.

"She really understood the publicity machine," Ms Taylor says.

Kellerman is credited with being the first woman to appear nude on film. ( Supplied: National Film and Sound Archive )

Upon her return to Australia, Kellerman, tongue-in cheek, told a media throng she was thinking of writing a novel but wasn't sure she'd have what it takes.

"These days novels have to have so much sex appeal — and I don't know anything about that," Kellerman told the press.

Ms Taylor has seen footage of the event, and says the people behind her were "just tittering, laughing and probably turning very red".

"She goes on to say that she's about to go camping and that when she goes camping she's not going to wear any clothes," Ms Taylor says.

"It's quite sensational to see a woman saying that in a newsreel in the 1930s in Australia."

'Escape into obscurity'

In the early decades of the 1900s, Annette Kellerman was a household name.

"She was very much a beautiful starlet," Ms Taylor says.

"She appeared in lots of magazines, both in Australia and America and around the world. She was very renowned."

But after she moved back to Australia, her fame slowly dissipated.

After returning to live in Australia, Annette Kellerman slowly slipped into obscurity. ( Supplied: National Film and Sound Archive )

"In the States she does have a star named after her on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, but other than that she very much did escape into obscurity," Ms Taylor says.

"I think a lot of people have never heard of Annette Kellerman."

Ms Taylor explains that Kellerman didn't make the career move from silent movies into 'talkies', which could have something to do with her lack of renown today.

She hopes the National Film and Sound Archive's online exhibition, Australia's Fearless Mermaid, will change this.

"I would just be so happy if children in school were learning about Annette Kellerman. That would just be such a fantastic thing to come out of this exhibition," she says.

"She is an example of a woman who just lived her best life and followed her dreams and had such amazing success.

"She really does deserve to go down in Australian history books."