The Bismarck tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, N.D.) 1916-current, 1931-02-27
Ti|den Enjoys Music More Than Tennis
Big Bill Is Full of Mannerisms;
Friends Overlook Most
of Them
BY ORLO

AOAN, ACO. GS.-HJ-11e says
his name is William Taten Tflden II
but it really isn't. He is William Ia
tenn Tilden, Jr. They called him
Junior" to distinguish him from his
father and his elder brother, Herbert
Marmaduke Tilden and he hated it.
So as soon as he could, Junior" Til
den became William Tatem II.
To complicate the matter further
he Is will" to his aunt, Miss Hay.
and a; cousin, Miss Selma Hay, who
took his bringing up In charge after
the death of his mother. He calls
Selma Twin" so they are about even.
Big Bill has four great interests
tennis, the stage, music and bridge.
He played baseball and hockey It
prep school i'll Philadelphia and was
rather good. His brother Marmaduke
taught him to play tennis, beat him
consistently, but died before Bill be-
came great.
Likes to Act
Bill long ago reached the profess
sional stage but he isn't considered a
good actor. He knows the technique
can memorize the parts. He has the
CdleUC 10 De a. ROOO dCGOr.
But I don't care" he says. II love
the stage. I love to act. 1t please.
me and-let's say I'm selfish about
it."
Music ranks next in his devotions.
He has attended so many operas that
he knows most Of the lines. Bill plays
no instrument but he has Of the
largest collections Of photograph rec
ords-all of singers-in the country.
Every record Mary Garden W made
is in the collection. He plays them
for hours at a time.
If I had to give up either tennis
o music" he said at the height OF
his career, II would give up tennis
Big Bill is full Of mannerisms TIL,
same tricks, gestures, voice infections
and attitudes that caused so mucn
comment on the courts are part of his
every day actions. They annoy most
Of his friends. The closest ignore
them.
He plays bridge as well as he plays
tennis and almost as much. He
makes frequent r~emarks-"of what a
rotten hand, "or well played" to his
partner. or the reverse. Contract
bridge is his ~favorite. Frank Hunter
teams with him as he does in tennis.
They once trimmed a pair Of caro-
sharks down in Florida.
He calls Frank ''Smarty" and in
sists he can beat him at anything,
Hunter shoots golf in the sos, Tilden
in the zoos. They used to dislike
each other heartily. Now Frank says.
"You got to know Bill to really like
him."
Cultivates Celebrities
Tilden likes celebrities and cult
Yates them. He enjoys his position
in the limelight and likes to join with
others in the same position. He
smokes nothing but cigarettes and
many of them.
The first time he won the American
national title in 1920. a friend j.. the
offered him a cocktail.
"Just for the championship. Bill"
he argued.
Bill hesitated and then shook his
head. That was the nearest he ever
came to taking a drink.
He is fastidious about food. Likes
steak or chops and always eats II
or the other before a match, usually
a steak with mashed potatoes. He
used to be ~passionately fond Of choc-
olate ice cream sodas. He still dotes
chocolate ice cream.
He loves to see his name in print
and has written novels and numerous
short stories. He thinks and writes
ending of mi short story
evaded him for a year and a half.
The solution came to him in the mid
die of a hard fought match. He fin
ished it in three hours.
Bill has never married. All his real
devotion to women he w for Aunt
and Cousin Hay. He is self-willcd,
argumentative but never r%ugnacious
and rarely admits he is wrong. He
forms strong friendships and makes
bitter enemies. Sometimes they are
interchangeable.