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Althea Neale Gibson was an American tennis player and professional golfer, and one of the first Black athletes to cross the color line of international tennis. In 1956, she became the first African American to win a Grand Slam title. The following year she won both Wimbledon and the US Nationals, then won both again in 1958, and was voted Female Athlete of the Year by the Associated Press in both years. In all, she won 11 Grand Slam tournaments, including five singles titles, five doubles titles, and one mixed doubles title. Gibson was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame and the International Women's Sports Hall of Fame. "She is one of the greatest players who ever lived," said Bob Ryland, a tennis contemporary and former coach of Venus and Serena Williams. "Martina [Navratilova] couldn't touch her. I think she'd beat the Williams sisters." In the early 1960s she also became the first Black player to compete on the Women's Professional Golf Tour.
Birth Name
Althea Neale Gibson
Born
Thursday, 25 August 1927
Died
Sunday, 28 September 2003
Actress Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
The Founders | Self | 2016 |
Althea | Althea Gibson | 2014 |
Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer | Self | 2006 |
The Fifties | Self - at Tennis Match | 1997 |
The Player | Althea Gibson | 1992 |
American Masters | Self | 1986 |
The Mike Douglas Show | Herself - Ex Tennis Champ | 1961 |
The Horse Soldiers | Lukey | 1959 |
About Faces | Self | 1959 |
Person to Person | Self | 1953 |
Actress Filmography
Title | Character | Year |
---|
The Founders | Self | 2016 |
Althea | Althea Gibson | 2014 |
Billie Jean King: Portrait of a Pioneer | Self | 2006 |
The Fifties | Self - at Tennis Match | 1997 |
The Player | Althea Gibson | 1992 |
American Masters | Self | 1986 |
The Mike Douglas Show | Herself - Ex Tennis Champ | 1961 |
The Horse Soldiers | Lukey | 1959 |
About Faces | Self | 1959 |
Person to Person | Self | 1953 |
This Is Your Life | Self | 1952 |
What's My Line? | Herself - Mystery Guest | 1950 |
The Ed Sullivan Show | Singer and Tennis Player / Self / Self - tennis star | 1948 |