[Rollo]

1931 press file

Article link (also posted in the 30s thread)
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/...s/14692961.htm

Charlie Chaplin described her movements on the tennis court "as the most beautiful sight" he had ever seen.

[trivfun]

Originally Posted by Rollo

Trivfun- have you read The Goddess and the American Girl- by Larry Engelmann? -it can often be had cheaply on Ebay and was a great book.

Helen was married twice and connected with a number of men. She usually met personal press questions with a "no comment" type attitude. It doesn't sound like someone who was asexual to me. If she had been that cold she hardly would have posed as a model for Diego Rivera's mural (see the 30s thread).

Engelmann's book throws out the theory that Helen was what you call "homophobic"-a possible reason for her "feud" with "Little Helen". Surely though most people at that time were-witness Don Budge and his disgust when Bill Tilden took him to a Berlin Caberet with all it's "oogly-googly boys".

Another theory runs that Wills disliked Jacobs middle-class background. As Ted Tinling put it, Wills father was a doctor, while Jacobs father was "in trade".

IMO it all boils down to a natural antipathy towards the next in line. Wills scanned the horizon and saw only one other American who refused to accept second place-and that woman was Jacobs.

The "why" may always remain a mystery. Helen's husband Freddy admitted she couldn't stand Jacobs, but he couldn't say exactly why.

Again, in the end Helen somehow managed to be a very private public figure.
It's that Mona Lisa type quality that intrigues me.

I love Mona Lisa but I don't think she is but whom am I to judge. I do wonder by looking at the pictures if she was hiding her ancestry of sorts like Ted Williams. I know her mom is from Iowa and her father is a "California" but no details.

[trivfun]

Don Budge got along with Gottfried Van Cram.

[trivfun]

Was Helen Wills rumored to be gay?

[alfajeffster]

Originally Posted by trivfun

Was Helen Wills rumored to be gay?

Are you gay?

[trivfun]

asexual, maybe when it comes to relationships of attraction/relationship. I do relate better to men in emotional terms. I do like the female anatomy for a plumpy toned females with mid-size boobs and ass (usuall about 5'4 -5'8). Margaret Osbourne Dupont, Wendy Turnbull, Darlene Hard, Zina Garrison, and Chris Evert in 1977-1979. I just go nuts and wet my pants. However, I hyperventilate when I try to talk to them.

Helen Wills never gave me the impression that she was gay or straight. I thought she was like Michael Jackson when reporters questioned his sexuality next thing you know, he is in a relationship with somebody and it didn't really last long. That was the impression that I got of Helen.

[RSimcox]

Has anyone compiled or published the total number of titles Helen Wills won in her career?

[Rollo]

Has anyone compiled or published the total number of titles Helen Wills won in her career?

Not to my knowledge. I would like to tackle her career next year after finishing off Lenglen's career stats in the next month or so.

If there is a complete list of her titles it is probably at the Fischer Library in New York. It is certainly on my list of places to visit the next time I am there!

As a rule Helen played few events to peak for the majors. She si very similar to Serena in that regard.