Disgraced 1920s Star Back in Lights
N E W Y O R K, Feb. 29 -- — In the 1920s, Bill Tilden dashed onto the world's tennis courts and transformed the game with his astonishing physical skills and his generous spirit of sportsmanship.
Stretching from Wimbledon to Broadway to Hollywood, his career expanded from athlete to writer to actor.
Then, he fell from grace and went to prison for sexual encounters with boys and young men. He died in 1953, virtually penniless and alone.
Now, Tilden's story has begun to emerge from the shadows.
In New York, Big Bill, a 90-minute play on Tilden's rise and fall, has opened off-Broadway at Lincoln Center's Newhouse Theater.
In California, a screenwriter has circulated a movie script based on a Tilden biography written a quarter-century ago by journalist Frank Deford.
The off-Broadway stage production attracted the attention of ESPN, which produced a story about Tilden for its sports network.
‘Tilden, Then Everyone Else’
As an athlete, Tilden excelled on a high level. His mastery of strokes and innovations, especially in the use of spin, made him an overwhelming presence in the sport of tennis. His insistence on fairness earned him added stature.
Tilden won seven U.S. championships and three Wimbledon singles titles and secured Davis Cup dominance for the United States. By one account, he won more than 900 matches and lost fewer than 70 over an 18-year period.
Ben Press, a San Diego tennis pro who presided at the Hotel del Coronado for 28 years, said Tilden's prowess stretched far beyond his prime. He played exhibitions against competitors half his age and won over audiences with his skill and demeanor.
"When we older folk talk about past greats," Press wrote recently, "almost everyone agrees: There was Tilden, then everyone else."
