Althea, where art thou?

| | Comments (0) |

ag-times.jpgStart making your list of who'd play Althea Gibson in a movie about the life of the late ground-breaking female tennis player.
And start with Serena Williams, not Eddie Murphy.
Serena said she's working on a movie script about Gibson, who won five Grand Slam singles titles in the late 1950s and was credited with being a forerunner for other black athletes.
“I think Althea Gibson has a great story ... we’re working on a script right now,� Williams said Friday at the Australian Open after her three-set win over Nadia Petrova.
Williams said Gibson, the first black person to be voted by The Associated Press as its female athlete of the year in 1957, had been “a little bit overlooked ... I just feel sometimes that Althea Gibson, who did so much for people like me to play this sport, and she was the first, before even Arthur Ashe, and I just think it will be a great story to tell."
And an inspiration to do other things in her honor.
“You’ve got the U.S. Open, you’ve got the Arthur Ashe court — Arthur Ashe is a great guy, and it was my lifelong dream when I met him,� Williams said. “Then you have the Louis Armstrong Center and the center being named after Billie Jean King, who, again, I always admired Billy, and she’s someone that I love.�
Gibson, who won two singles titles each at Wimbledon and the U.S. Open, and the French Open once, died in 2003 at the age of 76.
Asked what her status could be on the movie, Williams didn't seem to want to play the part.
“I definitely won’t be directing it," she said. "Hopefully I can produce it or something."
And Venus can take the lead.

Leave a comment

About this blog


Tom Hoffarth writes about sports and sports media for the Los Angeles Daily News.

About this Entry

This page contains a single entry by Tom Hoffarth published on January 19, 2007 9:21 PM.

Vodka, the great equine equalizer was the previous entry in this blog.

Golf is the Golf Channel's business is the next entry in this blog.

Find recent content on the main index or look in the archives to find all content.

Recent Comments

Powered by Movable Type 4.21-en

Advertisement

Other blogs

Answer Monday! (Part 9) in Inside USC with Scott Wolf
Why Manny likes LA: It's just like Cleveland? in Inside the Dodgers
Dean to transfer? in Inside UCLA with Brian Dohn
Kobe Bryant mum on MVP award, expected to play Game 1 in Inside the Lakers
Team USA update in Inside the Kings