Larry King (tennis)

This article is about the tennis player. For other persons named Larry King, see Larry King (disambiguation).

Larry William King (born January 30, 1945) is an American sports promoter, and the ex-husband of former World No. 1 professional tennis player Billie Jean King.

Larry King
Born	(1945-01-30) January 30, 1945 (age 78) Dayton, Ohio, U.S.
Occupation	Attorney
Known for	Founder of World Team Tennis
Spouse(s)	Billie Jean King ​ ​ (m. 1965; div. 1987)​ Nancy King
Children	2

Early life and education

King was born in Dayton, Ohio, and raised in Eagle Rock, California. He met Billie Jean Moffitt at California State University, Los Angeles in 1963, when he played on one of the school’s best men's tennis teams, coached by Scotty Deeds. He married Billie Jean on September 17, 1965 in Long Beach, California.^[1]

Career

In 1971, King conceived the idea of a professional tennis tour for women and helped organize a group of nine (the Original Nine) top women players: Billie Jean King, Rosie Casals, Judy Dalton, Julie Heldman, Kerry Melville, Peaches Bartkowicz, Kristy Pigeon, Nancy Richey, and Valerie Ziegenfuss. He obtained the backing of Gladys Heldman of World Tennis Magazine and Joe Cullman, CEO of Philip Morris, and the Virginia Slims pro circuit was started. In 1973, along with Dennis Murphy, Jordan Kaiser and Fred Barman, King developed the concept of World Team Tennis, and started the league the following year.^[2] In 1974, King and Billie Jean co-founded and began publishing womenSports magazine.

In 1976, King invented a smokeless ashtray, called The Clean Air King. In 1984, Billie Jean became the major owner of World Team Tennis.

King and Denis Murphy also founded Roller Hockey International, a professional hockey league that operated from 1993 to 1999.^[3] Murphy had also been instrumental in the founding of the American Basketball Association and the World Hockey Association.

King, a Master Duplicate bridge player and a Director, founded the Prize Money Bridge tour.^[4] He also founded Bridge University to promote bridge throughout the country.

Marriage and personal life

King had a big impact on the rise of his wife’s fame. Billie Jean was not always a feminist icon; in the 60s he had helped her start to think about the lack of scholarships for sports for women. He never tried to tear down Billie Jean’s aspirations of becoming a tennis superstar and promoted her success continuously. ^[5]

In 1971, Billie Jean had an abortion that was made public in a Ms. magazine article.^[6] Larry had revealed Billie Jean's abortion without consulting her.^[6]

In 1973, Billy Jean defeated Bobby Riggs in a well-publicized match. In 2017, the film Battle of the Sexes was released. In the film, King was shown as becoming aware, that year, of Billie Jean's infidelity with another woman, and decided to ignore it; King said that was false.^[7]

Billie Jean was sexually involved with her former secretary, Marilyn Barnett, during Larry and Billie Jean's marriage. In 1981, Billie Jean admitted publicly that the relationship had taken place, in response to a lawsuit by Barnett that asked for palimony.^[8]

Larry and Billie Jean divorced in 1987.^[9]

King lives in Grass Valley, California, with his wife, Nancy, and two children, Sky and Katie. According to the movie Battle of the Sexes, Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss are godparents to the Kings' children.

References

1. "Billie Jean King of Her Family", Long Beach Press-Telegram, November 23, 1965, page C-4
2. Collins, Bud "A Look at the History of World Team Tennis", World Tennis magazine, July 24, 2010, accessed June 24, 2011.
3. Robb, Sharon "It Looks Like Hockey — but On Wheels", South Florida Sun-Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Fla., June 5, 1993, accessed June 24, 2011.
4. Granovetter, Matthew (June 14, 2004). "Tennis or Bridge Anyone?". Bridge Today. Retrieved 2021-09-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
5. Ware, S. (2015). Game, set, match: Billie Jean King and the revolution in women's sports. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press.
6. Stanley, Alessandra (April 26, 2006). "The Legacy of Billie Jean King, an Athlete Who Demanded Equal Play". The New York Times. Retrieved February 1, 2014.
7. Hein, Michael (November 28, 2017). "Larry King Calls 'Battle of the Sexes' Lesbian Subplot 'Total BS'". Movies. Retrieved 2020-10-30.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
8. "Billie Jean King wins palimony case". UPI. November 19, 1982. Retrieved 2021-09-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
9. Westfall, Sandra Sobieraj (August 11, 2021). "Billie Jean King Reveals Her 'Secret' 2018 Marriage and Thoughts on New Generation's 'Fluid' Sexuality". PEOPLE.com. Retrieved 2021-09-24.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)