Fred Perry

In the early 1930’s, he was one of the most sought after bachelors and his off-the–court romances were often sensationalised by the press. He dated many actresses and models of that time.

Fred Perry was romantically involved with actresses Marlene Dietrich and Marry Lawson. He married four times, with his earlier three marriages ending in divorce.

He married his fourth wife, Barbara Riese in 1952 and the couple had two children, Penny and David.

Fred Perry was born in Cheshire but lived in Wallasey, England, where his father Samuel Perry, a cotton spinner, was involved in local politics. It was here, he attended the Liscard Primary School.

He also lived in Bolton for a brief period of time because his father’s involvement in local politics required the family to move from place to place.

At the age of nine, he moved to Ealing, West London after his father became the National Secretary of the Co-operative Party post World War I and was educated at the Ealing Grammar School for Boys.

He initially began playing lawn tennis in the courts of his family’s public estate.

Perry’s career kick started when from 1928 to 1929, he won medals in the single, double and team events at the ‘World Table Tennis Championship’.

He was the frontrunner of the Great Britain team in the Davis Cup and led his team to four consecutive victories from 1933 to 1936.

Between 1934 and 1936, he won three consecutive Wimbledon men's titles. He also won three U.S. Open (1933, 1934, 1936), French Open (1935) and Australian Open (1934).

In 1936, he won 29 out of 61 matches during the United States, ‘Big Tour’, following which he travelled to England and concluded the tour with a victory.

In 1938, the ‘Big Tour’ was even more grandiose and this time, Perry played against Ellsworth Vines, where Vines beat Perry, 49 to 35.

He was the winner of the World Table tennis Championship in 1929.

He won three continuous Wimbledon championships from 1934 to 1936 and was also conferred the title of ‘World Number 1’.

In 1938 and 1941, he was awarded the prestigious ‘US Pro’ title.

In 1975, he was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame, in Newport, Rhode Island.