About Gottfried von Cramm
Gottfried Alexander Maximilian Walter Kurt Freiherr[A] von Cramm (German: [ˈɡɔtfʁiːt fɔn ˈkʁam]; 7 July 1909 – 8 November 1976) was a German tennis player who won the French Championships twice and reached the final of a Grand Slam singles tournament on five other occasions. He was ranked number 2 in the world in 1934 and 1936, and number 1 in the world in 1937. He was the first German to win a singles title at a Grand Slam tournament. He was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1977, which states that he is "most remembered for a gallant effort in defeat against Don Budge in the 1937 Interzone Final at Wimbledon". Von Cramm had difficulties with the Nazi regime, which attempted to exploit his appearance and skill as a symbol of Aryan supremacy, but he refused to identify with Nazism. He was jailed briefly in 1938 for a homosexual affair. Von Cramm figured briefly in the gossip columns as the sixth husband of Barbara Hutton, the Woolworth heiress. In 1932, Cramm earned a place in the German Davis Cup team and won the first of four straight German national tennis championships. He earned his first individual Grand Slam title in 1934, winning the French Championships at Roland Garros. He was the first non-American, British, Australian or French player to win a singles Grand Slam title.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.