Fred Perry (18 May 1909–2 February 1995) was a British tennis and table tennis player and former world No. 1 from England who won 10 Majors, including eight Grand Slam tournaments and two Pro Slam singles titles, as well as six Major doubles titles. Perry won three consecutive Wimbledon Championships from 1934 to 1936 and was the world amateur number one tennis player during those three years. Before Andy Murray in 2013, Perry was the last British player to win the men’s Wimbledon championship, in 1936, and the last British player to win a men’s singles Grand Slam title, until Andy Murray won the 2012 US Open.
Where Was Fred Perry Born?
Perry was born in 1909 in Stockport, where his father, Samuel Perry (1877–1954), was a cotton spinner. For the first decade of his life, he also lived in Bolton, Lancashire, and Wallasey, Cheshire, because his father was involved in local politics. When living in Wallasey, he attended Liscard Primary School and, briefly, Wallasey Grammar School. Perry moved to Brentham Garden Suburb in Ealing, west London, at the age of eleven years when his father became the national secretary of the Co-operative Party after World War I. His father became the Labour and Co-operative Party Member of Parliament (MP) for Kettering in 1929.
Professional Tennis Career
After three years as the world’s No. 1 tennis amateur player, Perry turned professional late in 1936. This resulted in his being almost ostracised by the British tennis establishment. He played his first professional match on 6 January 1937 at Madison Square Garden against the best professional player, Ellsworth Vines, and won in four sets.
In the following year, 1938, the big tour was even longer this time, with Vines outscoring Perry 49-35, while the short tour in the Caribbean, Central, and South America was only at four to each of Perry and Vines. Perry finally won the US Pro at Chicago, winning it by defeating Bruce Barnes in the final.
Don Budge won the Grand Slam in 1938 as an amateur and then turned professional and played a series of matches against both Vines and Perry in 1939, beating Vines 22 times to 17 and beating Perry by 28 victories to 8.
In October, Perry lost in the final of the U.S. Pro to Vines in four sets. Then Perry won a four-man round robin at Long Beach (he, Gorchakoff, and Stoefen finished level on 2 wins each). Perry won the Finnish relief event in New York in March over Vines and Budge. Perry won the West Coast Pro round robin in Los Angeles in April. This was the last time Perry and Vines played each other before Vines went full-time on a golf career. Perry won their last match. Perry lost the final of the U.S. Pro in Chicago to Budge.
After breaking his elbow in a match against Bobby Riggs on the opening night of the Round Robin World Series, Perry had to miss several matches of the tour. Perry finished fourth in the standings. Soon after the pro circuit petered out in mid-1942, Perry was involved in World War II, where he served in the U.S. Air Force, having already gained American citizenship in 1939.
In 1946, Perry won events in January at Tucson (upsetting Bobby Riggs in the final), February at Omaha (upsetting Wayne Sabin in the final), April at Palm Springs over Carl Earn, and in May at El Paso over Frank Kovacs. Perry also played a series of matches against Tilden.
Perry won the Slazenger Pro at Scarborough in July. In the final, he took four sets to defeat Yvon Petra, who had been the winner of the Wimbledon men’s singles two years earlier. “Perry observed one wag had lost none of his zest, sting, or shrewdness. Perry analyzed Petra’s game while losing the first set of the final and won the next three for the loss of seven games. ‘I knew a little bit more about the game than he did,’ said Perry afterward.”
Perry turned 40 in May. By this time, Perry was playing on the pro circuit fitfully. Defending his title at Scarborough in July, Perry lost in the quarter-finals to Dinny Pails in five sets. Perry won the Slazenger Pro at Scarborough in August 1950, defeating Salem Khaled in the final. In August 1951, Perry, now 42, won his last title at Scarborough, defeating Francesco Romanoni. Perry won a tournament at Hagen in September 1953, defeating fellow veteran Hans Nusslein in the final. He played on until he was 50 in 1959, when he lost in the first round of the U.S. Pro at Cleveland.
How Did Fred Perry Die?
On 2 February 1995, Perry died at Epworth Hospital in Melbourne, Australia, after breaking his ribs following a fall in a hotel bathroom. He had been in Melbourne attending the Australian Open.
Was Fred Perry married?
Perry was one of the leading bachelors of the 1930s, and his off-court romances were reported in the world press. He was in love with German actress Marlene Dietrich and announced his engagement to British actress Mary Lawson in 1934, but soon gave up on the relationship when he shifted to the US. Later, in 1935, he married American film star Helen Vinson but divorced her in 1940.
In 1941, he married model Sandra Breaux for a short period of time. Then, in 1945, he married Lorraine Walsh, but that also ended in haste. Perry’s last marriage, to Barbara Riese, the sister of Patricia Roc, took place in 1952, and it was a long-lived one, more than forty years, until his death. Penny and David are their two children. David ran his father’s clothing line until it was taken over.
How Many Sisters Did Fred Perry Have?
Perry had an elder sister, Edith, who was born in Stockport, Cheshire. Edith followed her brother’s sporting achievements very closely and always supported him. Perry also had a half-sister, Sylvia.