Gussy Moran – ahead of her time

Written by: on 7th September 2016
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Gussy Moran – ahead of her time  |

Editors note: September 9th, 2016 would have been Gussy’s 93th Birthday. We here at 10sBalls will always feel blessed to have been friends with the courageous woman. She had a great spirit that stayed with her till her last breath. Gussy had a great wit and sense of humor. She was so bright yet so challenged by the mental illness that overcame her. Monday I drove past her last home, It was a dump of a small room in Hollywood. But Gussy’s strong will and spirit kept her going. She kept herself and her place clean and sparkling. She always smiled and tried to be pleasant to everyone. She truly was a talented athlete whose beauty and sex appeal made her come in second to her skills. She was the Anna K. of her day. And the next time you get dressed nicely and someone tells you that you got all “GUSSIED UP” you’ll know where that expression comes from.

 

“Gorgeous” Gussy Moran was Hollywood through and through and head to toe all over. The daughter of a Universal Studios sound technician, she had a few small roles in feature films whilst growing up, in the era of Charlie Chaplin, Bing Crosby and Gregory Peck. A golden age of the film industry, but sadly for Gussy not one for tennis in terms of income.

In 1949, a year before turning pro, Gertrude Augusta Moran had a plan. She had already made waves on the LA coast, playing in amateur tournaments and wanted to raise her profile globally. She contacted Ted Tinling and asked him to help her design and create an outfit. She wasn’t a no-hoper hoping for a bit of attention, she was a good player who had already won the US triple crown – but she was clever enough to know how to maximise her profile and earning power, and the Wimbledon Championships was the place to do that..

Tinling and Moran created an outfit which wowed the crowd and made headlines across the world. Remember this is 1949 – before Elvis, before the Beatles, before the rock and roll revolution which enraptured America. And, this wasn’t LA in 1949 – this was the All England Lawn Tennis Club. Over 60 years later players are still asked to change items of clothing which don’t adhere to the strict rules. Of course, everyone knows about the predominately white rule – but obviously there was nothing written down about showing your knickers! So that’s what Gussy did. Her skirt was so short that her frilly knickers showed when she reached for a shot.

Gussy Moran

Unsurprisingly, the world sat up and took notice – or rather, they lay down and took notice. Photographers fought (literally) for the best positions, actually lying down on the ground to get the most risqué shot of 25 year old Gussy serving. The daring outfit didn’t help her in the tournament, in fact she believes the distraction her knickers caused was a factor in her first round exit, but overnight she was a household name. Such a storm was created, Gussy was even discussed in Parliament.

For Ted Tinling the ramifications were huge. In 1949 he had been official Wimbledon tournament host for 23 years, but after helping Gussy Moran to make such an impact, he was shunned for the next 33 – only being invited back in 1983. Even the tournament itself changed, Gussy was accused of “bringing vulgarity and sin into tennis” and short skirts were banned.

For Gussy, the overnight fame was a struggle to handle. She went from hanging out with films stars and picking up the odd extra part to playing herself in a feature film alongside Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn called “Pat and Mike”. Gussy turned professional in 1950, but there was nowhere near the money in the game that there is now. After her retirement from playing, Gussy Moran worked for a time in television as a pundit, and in her later life took on many jobs in the field, writing columns for magazines or hosting radio programmes.

By modern standards, her outfit was nothing unusual in terms of skirt length or amount of flesh exposed. In some ways she can be likened to Anna Kournikova, in others she’s nothing like her. Gussy Moran was doing it in 1949, a ground-breaking, pioneering, thought provoking and scandal causing young lady. Kournikova could never be called ground-breaking, but perhaps in terms of being more famous for their image and sexuality than their tennis, they are akin.

Gorgeous Gussy Moran died on January 16th 2013 in Los Angeles aged 89. Perhaps she was born at the wrong time, certainly there is more money to be made in image rights for athletes these days. Gussy had an Airplane, a racehorse and even a table sauce – but she didn’t make the fortunes that the players today make. And do you know what? These modern millionaires probably owe her something for that.

 

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