The Sad Tale Of Big Bill

If this was happening today, & Bill Tilden were Roger Federer’s greatest rival, I am sure that “Big Bill” would be a guest on Oprah. Tilden would chat about his “problems” with Ms. O & Dr. Drew, & then publicly announce that he going into sex addiction rehab. Tilden was born on this day- February 10th, in 1893.



In 1950, during an era of closed minds, the Red scare & sexual & social conservatism, William Tatem Tilden II was overwhelmingly voted the greatest tennis player of the first half of the 20th century in an Associated Press poll only 6 weeks after being released from prison for the 2nd time on a conviction of having fondled & made unwanted advances to a teenage boy.


In the 1920s his star glowed as brightly as did the stars of Babe Ruth & Jack Dempsey Tilden won every major title for which he competed for 6 years, including 6 U.S. Nationals (1920-25). His greatness was not simply in his ability to hit a tennis ball. It was as much in the way he did it, just as his long & tragic fall into poverty & humiliation was as much a self-destruction as it was about gay sex.

Tilden won 3 Wimbledons, the 1st American to win the tournament in 1920 & 1921. He didn't compete at Wimbledon from 1922-26; the next 3 years he lost in the semifinals before becoming the oldest man to win a Wimbledon's singles title, at 37 in 1930.


Tilden won 7 U.S titles, 5 U.S. doubles titles & 4 national indoor titles while also leading the U.S. to 7 consecutive Davis Cups from 1920-26, including 13 singles victories in Cup competition. He didn't lose a match in 1924 & won 57 consecutive games in a single stretch in 1925.

After turning pro.Tilden moved to Hollywood in the 1930s & became friends with movie stars such as greta Garbo Charlie Chaplin, Errol Flynn, Katherine Hepburn & Joseph Cotten.


He traveled the circuit with hand picked adolescent ball boys; his behavior gradually resulted in banishment from many country & tennis clubs, & exclusion from major tennis tournaments.


In 1946, Tilden was arrested in Beverly Hills for contributing to the delinquency of a minor. Although the young man was a teenage prostitute & had consented to Tilden's sexual advances, Tilden was sentenced to a year in prison. He served seven months. In 1949, Tilden was arrested again for involvement with a 16 year old hitchhiker & sentenced to another year in prison, of which he served 10 months.

His reputation was tarnished by scandal & his fortune squandered on bad investments in Broadway shows. Tilden's final years were excruciatingly sad, spent alone in poverty in a lonely walk-up room in Hollywood. Tilden died of coronary thrombosis at age 60 on June 5, 1953 in his bed. He had $282.11 in cash & traveler's checks with him; $200 was returned to a student for lessons never given. Big Bill's net worth was $88.11 when he died.