Frank Parker with Katharine Hepburn, Gussie Moran, and Don Budge on the film set of Pat & Mike (1952) by unidentifiedInternational Tennis Hall of Fame
A cultural crossover
By the 1920s, both tennis and Hollywood were in the midst of their Golden Ages. Playing tennis and owning private tennis courts became a regular practice within the film industry.
American Lawn Tennis and Hollywood
American Lawn Tennis frequently featured stories relating to Hollywood and tennis throughout the magazine’s tenure, including this feature on actress Ginger Roger's tennis playing habits in the column "Tennis After Hours."
Beginning in 1927, the Pacific Southwest Tennis Championships (PSTC) in Los Angeles helped to further develop the relationship between Hollywood actors and tennis stars. The tournament presented the first local opportunity for Hollywood A-listers to congregate at major tennis events. Their attendance evolved into a strong presence surrounding the entire weekend event. International tennis stars began hosting lavish galas to cater to this elite crowd.
With increased media attention and popularity, the elite tennis stars of this era quickly rose to celebrity status. Movie stars, as members of high society, had the money and connections required to hire these tennis stars to coach them.
Hall of Famer Alice Marble started coaching actors when her own tennis teacher, Eleanor “Teach” Tennant, was asked to coach at the Beverly Hills Hotel. Marble taught more than thirty celebrities in Hollywood, and formed friendships with Clark Gable, Carole Lombard, and others. Both Alice Marble and Bill Tilden both established real friendships with movie stars that developed into a natural opportunity for acting.
Frank Parker on the set of Pat and Mike (1952) by unidentifiedInternational Tennis Hall of Fame
When tennis players act
As tennis players became international sports stars, their appearance as movie stars emerged as a natural fit. Frank Parker moved to Beverly Hills with his “Hollywood-like appearance” in 1938 and worked for MGM assisting with as many as fifty movies.
Frank Parker with Katharine Hepburn, Don Budge, and Jack Kramer on the film set of Pat & Mike (1952-02-07) by unidentifiedInternational Tennis Hall of Fame
In the Studio
In 1952, Frank Parker (right) worked with Katharine Hepburn to develop her tennis game as she prepared for her role of sports legend Patricia “Pat” Pemberton in Pat and Mike.
He wrote the tennis scenes, worked on special effects, trained Hepburn, and played on-screen in the doubles match with her, Gertrude “Gorgeous Gussy” Moran, and Hall of Famer Don Budge.
Movie Poster from 1951International Tennis Hall of Fame
Tennis in the Cinema
Tennis has been featured in numerous Hollywood productions, in the last 100 years, starting in 1920 with the silent film Haunted Spooks. Alfred Hitchcock was quite the tennis fan and often incorporated tennis into his films.
In the modern era, several major moments in the last 50 years of tennis history have been turned into feature films, including 2017's Battle of the Sexes and Borg vs. McEnroe.
American Lawn Tennis, Vol. 40, No. 10, Pages 1-40International Tennis Hall of Fame
Tennis and Hollywood Today
Many of the major tennis events on the calendar continue to attract celebrity attendees from across the world, just as the 1946 Pacific Southwest Tennis Club hosted a "gallery studded with socially prominent tennis patrons and motion picture stars."
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