Helen Wills Moody Biography

Quick Facts

NAME: Helen Newington Wills Moody
OCCUPATION: Coach, Tennis Player
BIRTH DATE: October 06, 1905
DEATH DATE: January 01, 1998
EDUCATION: University of California, Berkeley

PLACE OF BIRTH: Centerville, California
PLACE OF DEATH: Carmel, California

more about Helen

Best Known For

Tennis player Helen Wills Moody was the first female athlete to become an international star, winning 31 Grand Slam titles during her career.

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Helen Wills Moody

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Synopsis

Helen Wills, otherwise known as Helen Wills Moody, was an American tennis player, and the first American born woman to achieve international celebrity as an athlete. She won eight Wimbledon's, four French Championships, and seven U.S. Championships between 1923 and 1938. Moody was an artist as well, drawing all of the illustrations in her coaching manual, Tennis. She played the game into her 80s.

Profile

Tennis player. Born Helen Newington Wills on October 6, 1905 in Centerville, California. Helen Wills studied at the University of California (1927) and from then until her retirement (1939) she dominated women's tennis. She won her first US women's singles title in 1923, then went on to win it six more times by 1931.

Helen Wills Moody also won the Wimbledon singles championship eight times, the French singles four times, various doubles championships, and two gold medals in the 1924 Olympics. In all, she won 31 Grand Slam titles.

Married to Frederick Moody, she competed between 1929??39 as Helen Wills Moody. After marrying Aidan Roark in 1939, Helen Wills competed in senior tournaments as Mrs. Roark. She was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1959.