Fiend at Court Unplugged
Torben Ulrich has a couple of albums on Spotify. I know that for a fact because as I was drafting this essay on his life I was struck with the sudden realization that his music was probably available there. Ulrich is one of the most fascinating characters I have stumbled across while writing for this site. While his music will not be a regular fixture on my Spotify rotation, I do have a sudden desire to own some of his artwork. To say that he is living an interesting life is an understatement.
Ulrich captured my attention in a passing comment made by Helle Sparre-Viragh in her classic book on tennis strategy, Dynamite Doubles: Play Winning Tennis Today! Ulrich used to drop by to practice tennis against the same wall where she first learned to play. At the time, Ulrich was Denmark’s top ranked men’s tennis player. He later made a movie about the wall. With my love for all things associated with backboard tennis, that set me out on a quest to find a copy of that movie. I failed in that endeavor, but in the process discovered that Ulrich is a topic of his own.
Ulrich was an accomplished tennis player with a long amateur and professional career that spanned the 1940s through the 1970s. He additionally played for 10 years beyond that on the masters tour. Ulrich was also a writer, jazz composer, jazz musician, filmmaker, artist, and philosopher. The title of the “World’s Most Interesting Man” seems to be on lockdown by the Dos Equis man, but Ulrich is my pick for the Tennis World’s Most Interesting Man.
While I can’t recommend Ulrich’s two albums that are available on Spotify, I discovered that a playlist featuring Metallica’s Greatest Hits struck the right mood for rounding out the writing today. It’s not unrelated… Torben is also the father of Metallica’s founder, Lars Ulrich.
While I ultimately failed to find the movie that Ulrich made about the wall, I did find the following tribute video that contains some clips that were likely from that film. Ordinarily I would bookmark the location where those specific clips appear, but I think the complete video is necessary to fully comprehend the essence of the man. I highly recommend watching the whole thing.
