- Ted Tinling
(Cuthbert Collingwood) Ted Tinling (
June 23 1910 -May 23 1990 ), sometimes known as Teddy Tinling, was a Britishtennis player,fashion designer , spy andauthor . He was a firm fixture on the professional tennis tour for over sixty years.He was born in
Eastbourne , the son of James Alexander Tinling, a chartered accountant. In 1923, suffering from bronchial asthma, his parents sent him to theFrench Riviera on doctor's orders. It was there he began playingtennis , particularly at the Nice Tennis Club where the then biggest star of the game,Suzanne Lenglen , would practice. Despite Tinling's youth, Lenglen's father asked him if he would umpire one of her upcoming matches and he would go on to be her personal umpire for two years in between a short career as a player himself. This friendship with Lenglen led him to his firstWimbledon Championships in 1927, where he became player liaison until 1949. DuringWorld War II , he was a Lieutenant-Colonel in the Intelligence Corps inAlgiers and Germany. [Oxford Dictionary of National Biography] . [ Times obituary May 1990]Tinling designed dresses for almost all of the great lady players throughout the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. It was a design in 1949 - lace tennis panties - that led him to being asked to take leave from his position at Wimbledon.
A close friend of
Billie Jean King - designing her dress for the famous "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match in 1973 - he became player liaison on theVirginia Slims Women's Tennis Association tour that King helped to create. He continued to design daring and unusual dresses for stars such asMartina Navratilova ,Chris Evert ,Evonne Goolagong andVirginia Wade throughout this time but his role in the infrastructure of tennis became more important and he became an official media spokesperson for the game. He was employed again by Wimbledon from 1982 as a player liaison.Tinling was openly
gay .cite web |url=http://www.outsmartmagazine.com/cms-this_issue/200606--Martina+Calling.html |title=Martina Calling |first=Bradley David |last=Williams |month=June | year=2006 |accessdate=2007-08-15] He wrote several books on tennis in the 1980s but respiratory problems continued to affect him and he died in 1990. After his death it was revealed he had been aBritish Intelligence spy during World War II. He was inducted into theInternational Tennis Hall of Fame in 1986. Tinling's brotherJames Collingwood Tinling was a member of the team that built the first jet engine.Works
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*References
External links
* [http://www.tennisfame.com/famer.aspx?pgID=867&hof_id=135 International Tennis Hall of Fame profile]
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