About Budge Patty
Edward John Patty (February 11, 1924 – October 4, 2021), better known as Budge Patty, was an American world no. 1 tennis player whose career spanned a period of 15 years after World War II. He won two Grand Slam singles titles in 1950. He was the second American male player to win the Channel Slam (winning the French Open and Wimbledon in the same year) and one of only four as of 2024 (the others were Don Budge, Tony Trabert and Andre Agassi). == Early life == Edward John Patty was born in Fort Smith, Arkansas, on February 11, 1924. His grandmother was born in France, while one of his grandfathers was Austrian. His family relocated to Los Angeles during his childhood, and he attended Los Angeles High School. He was nicknamed "Budge" by his brother, who perceived Patty to be lethargic, resulting in a "failure to budge". Patty started playing tennis as a child, and practised with Pauline Betz every Saturday morning when he was a junior player. After winning the Los Angeles novice championships when he was 13, she encouraged him to take lessons with Bill Weissbuch at the Beverly Hills Tennis Club. There, Patty was discovered by Barbara Stanwyck and Robert Taylor, who provided him with financial support to travel to national junior championships.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.