Robert Kelleher

Robert Kelleher was born on March 5, 1913 in New York City, New York, USA as Robert Joseph Kelleher.

He had lived in Southern California since he married Gracyn Wheeler in 1940. He had the only clay tennis court at his home in Beverly Hills, California. His neighbor was Ginger Rogers.

In his youth, he was a ball boy at the tennis tournament in Forest Hills, Queens, New York. He graduated with a Bachelor's Degree from Williams College and with a Law Degree from Harvard University in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At Williams College, he was captain of the tennis team and won an Eastern Collegiate doubles title with his tennis partner, Elbert Lewis (1958-1962).

He was captain of the United States Davis Cup Team in 1962 and in 1963 which included Arthur Ashe who would later win the first United States Open in 1968 during the Open Era. In 1968, he was head of the tennis association and played on Centre Court at Wimbledon in England with R. Sargent Shriver, the United States Ambassador to France, to win a match in the veterans doubles division.

He was practicing law when he was head of the United States Lawn Tennis Association in 1967. He led efforts to turn the United States Championships at the Forest Hills, Queens, New York into the UNited States Tennis Open in 1968. He was successful in opening competition to amateurs and professional players. Professionals were made eligible to play the Grand Slam Tournament.

He was appointed to a federal judgeship by President Richard M. Nixon in 1970.

He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000.

He was an actor, known for The Yankles (2009). He was married to Gracyn Wheeler Kelleher.