Now showing... The Wimbledon heroes

From film stars to criminals, the players have had interesting second lives

LONDON: Film stars, fashion tycoons and even a murderer — Wimbledon boasts a fascinating collection of heroes and villains who have coloured its 130-year history.

The Reverend John Hartley was the proud winner of the 1879 men’s title, beating dashing Irish baronet Vere Thomas St Leger Goold. But it was the runner-up who forever won infamy.

A century ago, Goold and his wife Marie were arrested for the sensational ‘’Trunk Murder’’. They dismembered and hid in a trunk the body of a Danish woman trying to reclaim casino gambling debts from the deadly couple. Both were sentenced to life. Goold was transported to Devil’s Island, the notorious French penal colony off the coast of South America where he died a year later.

Not all Wimbledon players have had such a gruesome ending. Others found fame, fortune or spiritual peace in the most unlikely twists of fate.

Elegant Indian Vijay Amritraj will be remembered, not just for his Wimbledon exploits but for his cameo role in the James Bond movie ‘’Octopussy.’’ He wielded his tennis racket to defend Roger Moore from the villains.

Former British number one Annabel Croft later earned fame as a television presenter and on a reality television show where she won a celebrity wrestling competition. Fashion and tennis have always been inextricably mixed. Rene Lacoste commemorated his nickname ‘’The Crocodile’’ as the logo on the sporting goods that built his fashion empire.

Triple Wimbledon champion Margaret Court was ordained in 1991 and started the Victory Life Church in Western Australia.  Andrea Jaeger, once a teenage prodigy, set up a foundation to help young cancer sufferers and herself became a nun.

Then there was 1878 men’s champion Frank Hadow, a tea planter from Ceylon who came back to England, was intrigued by the new game of lawn tennis and decided to enter Wimbledon with his brother. Afterwards he went back to tea-planting.

Among the women of yesteryears was  Lottie Dod who won the first of her five Wimbledon titles at the age of 15 in 1887. She excelled in all sports.

She rowed and rode, she played golf, she went down the Cresta Run and won a silver medal for archery at the 1908 London Olympics.