Tennis Hits the Books
Alice Marble passed away in 1990 at the age of 77. Shortly before her death, she completed a second autobiography in collaboration with author Dale Leatherman. While Marble saw the project to completion, sadly she didn’t live to see the book in print. That ending is emblematic of her life story.
Courting Danger: My Adventures in World Class Tennis, Golden Age Hollywood and High-Stakes Spying presents Marble as a great champion and courageous women. That is is certainly an accurate characterization. The book also contains some larger than life stories that sound almost too amazing to be true. In fact, that very well may be the case. Many details divulged in Courting Danger simply cannot be independently corroborated.
For a fact-checked version I recommend The Divine Miss Marble A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery which was published in 2020. The author Robert Weintraub relayed many of the stories in Courting Danger and in the process outlines some of the gaps and discrepancies in Marble’s own narrative.
For example, Marble’s account of her high stakes spying escapades featured in the subtitle of Courting Danger has no supporting evidence whatsoever. In fact, her timeline of events doesn’t align with documented public records of even where she was at the time. Some of those discrepancies can perhaps be chalked up to fading memory and the passage of time. However, numerous requests filed by Weintraub under the Freedom of Information Act turned up nothing. World War II era clandestine operations would most certainly be declassified by now.
As a demonstrably unreliable narrator of her own life, it might be tempting to dismiss Courting Danger as work of borderline fiction, but as a tennis reference it still carries a lot of value. Marble’s first hand account of her tennis career is a powerful testimonial to what life was like as a player from less than modest means during the amateur era.
Marble relied on wealthy benefactors her entire life. Through relationships facilitated by her coach, Eleanor “Teach” Tennant, she hobnobbed with the rich and famous at the tennis clubs in Palm Springs. Marble was most certainly a friend of Clark Gable and Carole Lombard. She was also a resident guest at the Hearst Castle where she played tennis with a rotating cast of celebrities on the tennis court installed above an indoor pool.
Courting Danger also provides insight into the developmental arc of Marble’s tennis game. Prior to formal tennis instruction her sheer athleticism carried her to the California State Championship title. Following that achievement, Tennant took Marble to Harwood “Beese” White who immediately observed “That’s the worst tennis game I have ever seen.” The account of how Beese completely rebuilt her stroke mechanics from the ground up is an inspirational story for tennis players seeking transformational change in their game.
Marble experienced shoddy treatment from the USLTA. In fact, Courting Danger is an excellent first person perspective of how USLTA pressure and scheduling arguably contributed to many of Marble’s medical issues. The USLTA undermined Marble repeatedly throughout her playing career. Only after her ascension to the US National Championship, did her treatment by the USLTA improve. Even that experience could be characterized as exploitation.
Courting Danger illustrates what life was like during the pre-open “shamateurism” era of tennis. The sporting goods manufacturers provided the players with racquets and funded clinics. The USLTA provided travel, lodging, and pocket money. Because she was unable to directly monetize her playing career, Marble relied on wealthy benefactors both during and after her playing days. In 1936 after winning the National Championship William Randolph Hearst gifted her with a new Chevrolet. Another long time friend and suitor, Will DuPont, established a trust fund that sustained her later in life.
Marble’s legacy in tennis extended beyond her playing days. She coached and mentored up and coming players which greatly contributes to her legacy. She worked directly with Darlene Hard before she went on to win the US National Championship in 1960 and 1961. Tennant also called on Marble for help to improve the serve of Maureen “Little Mo” Connelly.
Marble’s most famous coaching relationship was with a teen-aged Billie Jean Moffet who came to Marble with eerie similarities to her own game as she emerged into prominence. Marble worked with Billie Jean on her fitness, and observed that she had “Champion” written all over her. The end of that coaching relationship is consistent with Billie Jean King’s own account.
Marble was a key proponent as Althea Gibson fought for the right to compete at the US National Championships. She penned a powerful editorial letter that put pressure on the USLTA that is widely acknowledged as a significant factor leading into Gibson’s first appearance at Forest Hills in 1951. I was disappointed that Courting Danger barely touched on that episode. It doesn’t add much to the story beyond the basic facts which are already well established.
To steal a lyric from Elton John, Alice Marble was a like candle in the wind. Her light was bright, but she was buffeted by the forces around her. Her life is a monument to a continuous struggle to achieve more. Marble desperately wanted her light to shine just a little bit brighter. Courting Danger: My Adventures in World Class Tennis, Golden Age Hollywood and High-Stakes Spying is the inevitable culmination of those desires.
 | Courting Danger: My Adventures in World Class Tennis, Golden Age Hollywood and High-Stakes Spying |
