The Divine Miss Marble: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery

by Robert Weintraub

The story of 1930s tennis icon Alice Marble, and her life of sports, celebrity, and incredible mystery.

Who was Alice Marble?

In her public life, she was the biggest tennis star of the pre-war era, a household name like Joe DiMaggio and Joe Louis. She was famous for overcoming serious illness to win the biggest tournaments, including Wimbledon. She was also a fashion designer and trendsetter, a contributor to a pioneering new comic called Wonder Woman--and friend to the biggest names in Hollywood and society, like Carole Lombard and Clark Gable, William Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, and members of families named Bloomingdale, Loew, and du Pont. She helped integrate tennis with her support of Althea Gibson, and even coached two young women who became stars in their own right: Billie Jean King and Sally Ride.

Yet her private life provoked constant speculation while she was alive, and her own memoirs added layers of legend upon stories. According to Alice, she married a man who was killed in the skies over Europe during World War II. But who was the man she loved, and had he even existed? She was widely known for her patriotism during World War II. Had she really nearly given her life for her country as a spy, shot during a wild car chase fleeing foreign espionage agents?

In The Divine Miss Marble, bestselling author Robert Weintraub traveled the country to uncover her fascinating story. And the more he learned about her, the more her mysteries and contradictions deepened. Alice was a powerful woman who knew her worth, demanding equal pay to men decades earlier than other female athletes; yet she was held in sway by a domineering, highly successful coach with whom she had a volatile relationship. She was renowned for her California style, and had a brilliant mind and the guts to overcome a lifetime of physical trauma.

For the first time here, we come closer than ever before to the truths of this unforgettable life, and somehow it's a story even more extraordinary than everything we already know about the divine Alice Marble.

Genres: Biography, Nonfiction, Sports, Biography Memoir, History, Autobiography, Mystery

498 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2020

About the author

Robert Weintraub is a sports columnist for Slate.com and has written for ESPN.com, Play, The Guardian, Football Outsiders, and many other publications, as well as written and produced for ESPN, Turner Broadcasting, ABC Sports, the Discovery Channel, and dozens of other television outlets. He lives in Decatur, Georgia.

Reviews

[Olive Fellows (abookolive) · Rating 5 out of 5]

American tennis player Alice Marble (1913-1990) captured the world’s attention and multiple titles beginning in the mid-1930s. As detailed in Robert Weintraub’s “The Divine Miss Marble: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery,” Marble possessed a great deal of innate talent, but it wasn’t until coach Eleanor “Teach” Tennant agreed to instruct her that she morphed into a champion.

Read the rest of my review in the Christian Science Monitor.

[MicheleReader · Rating 4 out of 5]

I asked a group of fellow tennis players, all serious club players, if they had ever heard of Alice Marble (1913-1990). No one had. And that’s a real shame. I’m happy to say I am very familiar with Miss Marble and that made me very interested in reading The Divine Miss Marble.

I knew of her impressive 18 Grand Slam Championships. Five were Singles titles and six were in Women’s Doubles with Sarah Palfrey Cooke (1912-1996), an incredibly lovely woman I got to know a little in the late 1980s. I also knew that Alice Marble advocated for Althea Gibson and helped integrate the sport.

And there’s a lot I didn’t know. Through her mentor Eleanor Tennant, Alice was able to hobnob with the biggest celebrities, business leaders and members of society. But because tennis players at the time were amateurs, they were not compensated so Alice and her fellow champions were not wealthy like today’s athletes. Their affluent lifestyle came from the famous people they were surrounded by. Author Weintraub provides some fun behind the scenes looks at what it was like during this period to be a national hero with fabulous friends. Alice, however, needed to also have a regular office job for some income. Marble’s impressive tennis career was almost cut short by illness. Her eventual recovery was remarkable.

Where the book gets a bit cloudy is with stories about her relationships and her experiences during WWII as a possible spy. Marble had penned two biographies – one came out posthumously. She had written about a marriage which could not be substantiated. Was this fabricated to cover up for an lifestyle which included partners that were both male and female? We’ll never know. And so sad that she could not live a full, open life. And her spy story? Another tale that perhaps never happened. The author worked to uncover the truth.

But what can’t be denied is that Alice Marble was an incredible talent even if she remains a bit of a mystery. Hopefully that fact will be what readers walk away with. And hopefully she will not be forgotten. You don’t have to be a tennis fan to enjoy The Divine Miss Marble but fans will find it worthwhile.

Many thanks to Edelweiss, Dutton Books and author Robert Weintraub for an advance copy – publication is July 14, 2020.

Rated 3.75 stars.

Review posted on MicheleReader.com.

[Dale Leatherman · Rating 2 out of 5]

I admit to being biased since I am the co-author of Alice Marble's final autobiography, Courting Danger, published in 1990 by St. Martin's Press. I discovered some things I did not know about Alice in Weinraub's book, and I welcomed the information. His research (or that of assistants) was extensive, far greater than mine back in the late 80s, before the Internet, when I worked with Alice on her book.

I'm not sure all of the research gleaned by Weintraub and crew should have been in the book, which was 400+ pages and did drag in places. I also don't agree with all of his inferences or conclusions. Just because something can't be proven does not mean it is untrue, especially after 80 years have passed, records have been destroyed and everyone involved is dead. I stand by Alice's words in Courting Danger, which she knew would be her last.

[Nursebookie · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Divine Miss Marble
By Robert Weintraub

I love tennis and reading sport biographies and I must confess that I have not heard of the amazing Miss Marble and her amazing history in sports and the social history surrounding her life. I thought that this was a fascinating read and not only learned about this tennis legend and all the famous dignitaries surrounding her life but also what was happening in that time of pre WWII era. I enjoyed this read very much. Well written and very profound read I enjoyed very much.

[Beth · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting life told in serviceable but not particularly appealing prose.

[Dale Wyant · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an incredibly comprehensive biography of a woman whose story I wanted to get to know. Even though I am a tennis fan, I had never heard much about her. Weintraub did a great job interlacing the context of Alice's life with the history of the world around her, including the discrimination women faced in sports. I think he did the best job possible in getting to the "truth" of her tale, but even without her embellishments, she led quite a life! However, it is sad to realize just how fleeting "fame" can be as she died alone, barely being remembered. I hope this book changes that!

[Heidi Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this as a companion piece to Marble’s autobiography, and I was pleased with the rigor with which the author researched and verified (or not, as in the case of Alice’s fantastic WWII spy escapade) Marble’s own accounts of people and events.

Her memoir has more heart, but if you want to know the facts, read this instead (or in addition to) Courting Danger.

[Heidi Larson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn't know who she was when I started this book, so it was fun to read about a tennis star from San Francisco with courts named in her honor just a few blocks from my home. Her life is a winding road ... We think.

[Human Entity · Rating 3 out of 5]

Honored to read about such a legendary character from my favorite sport. The writer should have edited the book more and it seemed at times to get heavy reading as he would consolidate what was said and written about Alice again and again. It made it feel like you were reading not a book but a selection of hundreds of articles that the author used to craft this together.

Anyways I'm happy to get to know Alice through this book. But at times it became a cumbersome read not at all because of Alice but the author's style.

[Cristie Underwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

Alice Marble lived a fascinating life, or did she?????? The author set out to investigate the stories about Alice that have circulated for years, even after her death. Was she really a spy? Was she ever married? This is such a fascinating read. I had never heard of Alice Marble before seeing this book, but something about it grabbed my attention. I am so glad that it did because it was such a great read!

[Joban Gill · Rating 3 out of 5]

As someone who is horrible at sports and knows nothing about tennis beyond the Williams sisters, I still found Marble’s story to be incredibly fascinating and strange. I do think it could have been much shorter - the author tends to give lengthy backstories for every side character - and I feel that it lost a lot of momentum after she wins Wimbledon. But a name not to be forgotten in the least. Also didn’t realize how big the LGBTQ+ community is in tennis lol

[Johnny · Rating 5 out of 5]

It seems incredibly surprising to me that not one sports writer or analyst made a reference to multiple Wimbledon and US National Tennis champion, Alice Marble, during the debate over college athletes and amateurism. The Divine Miss Marble: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery is Robert Weintraub’s hefty and fascinating 2020 biography of the tennis star, lounge singer, clothing and shoe designer, comic book writer, radio personality, magazine columnist, and spy. In what should have been a rags-to-riches story, Weintraub recounts how the Venus of the courts both had to work hard in the off-seasons to stay afloat and was forced to rely on the generosity of her friends. Indeed, because she spent so long playing at the much-vaunted amateur status of the world of tennis in the ‘30s, the celebrity only ended her days “in the black” because of a trust set up for her by her rejected suitor, DuPont heir Will Du Pont.

Weintraub weaves a mesmerizing tale from the mines of Gold Rush California’s impact on her family to her mostly overlooked memorials on a San Francisco tennis court complex and a Palm Desert club, sharing claims that he could neither completely verify or deny and a few rumors of which the same can be said, along with a solid, well-researched, fact-based narrative. Who would have thought that someone who regularly retrieved blown hats from streetcar passengers for dime tips, worked at both her high school cafeteria and a local soda fountain, and pitched pennies in Golden Gate Park would end up befriending multi-millionaires like William Randolph Hearst and Will Du Pont, major league ballplayers, and Hollywood stars on her way to the top of the tennis world? And who would have thought that her “hero’s journey” to the top of that tennis world would include rehabilitation from an apparent career-ending tuberculosis and recovery from more than one automobile accident? Who would have thought that a tennis player could impact the war effort and early race-relations? Yet, such is the material of Alice Marble’s life and accomplishments in just the easily verified accounts in this book.

Along with the fascinating biography, Weintraub accessorizes the main narrative with marvelous tableaus of cultural history. For example, having lived and worked in San Francisco, I had a great appreciation for the incredible phenomenon known as Golden Gate Park. I visited it for concerts, museums, the famous Japanese garden, and to appear in a student-directed horror film. I loved its lush expanses and incredible flowers, trees, and expansive lawns. I did not know (as Weintraub recounts on p. 39) that “It was a uniquely beautiful place with bounteous flora sprung loose by the fact the park was for many years irrigated by raw sewage.” Having stayed once in a bungalow at the Beverly Hills Hotel, I couldn’t imagine that one of the major activities associated with the famous hotel was the horseback rides and picnics led for many years by Marble’s eventual coach, mentor, and (possible) lover, Eleanor Tennant (pp. 73-74). Anyone who has ever visited Hearst Castle (or watched certain scenes of Citizen Kane will recognize the petit culture of San Simeon’s La Cuesta Encantada with its rich descriptions of the portico, the dining room full of medieval furniture, and both the Neptune Pool (outside) and its gold inlaid sister pool (inside) along with famous guests, aviation, and animals who held the right-of-way [recounted in Chapter 13, “Castle in the Sky”]. Weintraub describes athletes and celebrities both in and out of the closet and their respective challenges/ordeals, as well as offering descriptions of cultural attitudes in other ways. For example, I noticed a slur that seemed to be a reversal of the racist ��Indian giver” (which, given the number of broken treaties by those of Euro- and Scandinavian stock should probably be “Caucasian giver”) as Marble’s coach was fascinating by philosophy, theosophy, and religion but, upon getting fed up with them, would vow to “give them back to the Indians.” (p. 65) Marble’s friendship with Gable and Lombard allowed Weintraub to interject the fact that stars at the 1939 preview of Gone with the Wind in Atlanta stayed at the Georgian Terrace hotel, except for Hattie McDaniel (excluded because of the “Whites Only” policy—p. 237).

The truth is that The Divine Miss Marble would have been an even more fascinating book if I were a tennis fan. The book is delightful even though I am not a tennis fan. I like to volley informally with my wife, but neither of us “play.” Not being a fan, it was news to me that Wimbledon made use of a Rudyard Kipling quotation over the Centre Court entrance: “If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster / And treat those two imposters just the same.” (p. 179). That could also have been the frontispiece for The Divine Miss Marble: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery, considering the roller-coaster ride of Alice Marble’s life. I probably wouldn’t have read this book if it hadn’t been highlighted as a staff recommendation at our local public library. I am so delighted that it was.

[Douglas Perry · Rating 2 out of 5]

The biography opens with a thrilling chase during the last days of World War II. A brunette in a sports car is racing along a mountain road in the Swiss Alps, “fighting to keep the vehicle from plunging into the distant valley below,” as another vehicle relentlessly gains on her.

This is not a promising beginning.

We learn why on the very next page. Our heroine is now out of the car and running when “a shot rang out.” She collapses, everything goes black.

“What in the world was she doing there?” the book’s author, Robert Weintraub, then asks. “For that matter, was she really there at all?”

Excuse me?

“The Divine Miss Marble: A Life of Tennis, Fame, and Mystery” tracks the adventures and accomplishments of Alice Marble, who dominated the women’s tennis tour in the late 1930s.

Marble was a great tennis player, winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals (now the U.S. Open), and she later backed pioneering Black champion Althea Gibson, helping to open up the elitist, lily-white sport.

She also might have been a fabulist.

In her ghostwritten autobiography “Courting Danger” -- published in 1992, nearly two years after her death at age 77 -- Marble claimed she undertook a secret mission during World War II. Her tale of intrigue was vague and unconvincing. By then Marble had been largely forgotten even by the tennis world, and the book ended up in the remainder bin.

Weintraub, the author of the baseball tomes “The Victory Season” and “The House That Ruth Built,” didn’t want to write about the “mystery” of Marble’s life. He figured there was truth somewhere in her tale of wartime derring-do, and he set out to find it.

And why wouldn’t he find it? The U.S. intelligence apparatus employed conmen, assassins and, yes, elite athletes during World War II, but most of all it employed bureaucrats. They filed reports, accounted for their hours, submitted receipts. Most of those records are stored in various well-thumbed folders in government archives.

Is it possible that Marble worked “off the books” for the Office of Strategic Services, the CIA’s precursor, meaning there would be no personnel file? Sure, but what are the chances that with all of the intelligence staffers who would have in some way worked on -- or inevitably heard about -- a secret mission featuring an international tennis star, none of them would mention her in an official document or a diary entry or a later memoir?

What we do know is that every available piece of information we have about Marble’s wartime mission ultimately comes from Marble. And we know that she liked to be the center of attention, telling stories in bars, especially in her later, post-glory years.

Weintraub acknowledges all of this, pointing out that Marble went out on an exhibition tour with fellow tennis greats Bill Tilden and Don Budge shortly after she supposedly was shot in the back. He quotes a contemporaneous news account that her “serves were as hard as the men’s and she served several aces.”

Still, he retells her account of wartime heroics with relish: “Alice unscrewed the radiator cap, fished out the key, and got dressed, putting on her shoulder holster and placing the .25 inside. She slipped from the room.” Even with all the caveats he offers, Weintraub leans hard on the possibility that somehow it’s all true. He points out that he tracked down a friend of hers who “saw the scars on Alice’s back.”

One thing that’s undeniable is that even if she didn’t take a bullet for her country, Marble led an eventful life. She reached the top of her sport after overcoming a brutal sexual assault and then a bout of tuberculosis that caused a doctor to tell her she’d “never play tennis again.” She grew up in “genteel poverty,” her father dying when Alice was six, but as an adult she exuded high-society glamor and was embraced by Hollywood royalty. She pursued a variety of sexual trysts with men and women alike. “Alice’s sexuality was as fluid as her movement on the tennis court,” Weintraub writes.

So there you have it: Alice Marble was an iconic tennis champion, the one who made it socially acceptable for a woman to play a “man’s game” -- that is, to employ an attacking style. She also was charming, a fashion trendsetter, and could sing and play a mean guitar (which she sometimes did on lecture tours).

But if it’s the book’s preface that sparks your interest, that chase along a winding Swiss mountain road, you’re better off putting “The Divine Miss Marble” back on the shelf and moving on to the fiction section.

[Ann Woodbury Moore · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. After finishing this I went online (as I often do) for more information about the subject, 1930s tennis star Alice Marble. Much to my surprise, I discovered a second recent biography of her (2023), "Queen of the Court" by Madeleine Blais. What are the odds that two major publishers, in a three-year period, would come out with books about a woman who—though well-known and highly influential in her day--is now relatively obscure? Naturally, I reserved Blais' title and, after a couple of weeks to delve into other books, read it. It’s also a 3.5. So, this is a joint review... Marble is an absolutely fascinating character, a rags-to-riches and success story, moving from life as a fatherless, lower-class child in 1920s San Francisco to the height of fame at the US Nationals and Wimbledon and overcoming major health issues along the way. She hobnobbed with Hollywood stars, sang in nightclubs, had her own fashion line, and toured the country during World War II. In the 1950s she championed Black player Althea Gibson and briefly coached Billie Jean King, but starting in the 1960s interest in her faded except among tennis aficionados. She died, alone, in 1990. The two biographies cover the same material. Blais’ is more scholarly, Weintraub’s more casual. Weintraub also has an annoying habit of both beginning his chapters with fictionalized scenes and inserting himself into the story. On the other hand, Weintraub is far more open about Marble’s bisexuality, which Blais tiptoes around. But the biggest difference is the way the two authors handle accounts Marble either exaggerated or created out of thin air—some minor, but others as important as a supposed marriage to a serviceman during World War II and a resulting pregnancy which ended in a miscarriage; and, serving as a spy in Switzerland during the last months of the War and being shot in the back. Weintraub acknowledges these as they occur chronologically in the text, then explains the research he did to disprove them. Consequently, as I read Blais’ book and found the questionable stories presented as fact, I was perturbed. Had Blais not done her homework? Only in her very last chapter (if you make it that far) does Blais address these problems. I find Weintraub’s approach more honest and direct. Alice Marble is definitely worth reading about (and her life would make a terrific feature film). However, for a biography, I recommend sticking to Weintraub.
An interesting article:
https://racquetmag.com/2020/08/19/thr...

[Karen Richardson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Marble's life was fascinating - and as others mentioned, I didn't know about her and also haven't run into anyone (even tennis enthusiasts) who've heard of her - extraordinary lack of knowledge, given her talent and accomplishments (winning Wimbledon and being the biggest tennis star of the pre-World War II era). But huge prize money wasn't there in the 1930s (her coaching pupils include Billie Jean King, who was later instrumental in building up women's tennis) and it was often difficult for Alice to make ends meet.

Although the author is accomplished, the book seems poorly edited in places - perhaps he (and/or the editor) were simply going too fast? For example, Chapter 1, line 1 is: "Alice Marble began her life far from the Swiss Alps, in the shadow of different mountains, ones that, for a brief, sparkling period, were the center of the world."

Why the reference to the Swiss Alps - from out of nowhere? Puzzling things like this happen.

The photos are also a bit odd. They're mostly of tennis during a select number of years (some photos don't even have the year or a meaningful caption). Where are the photos of Alice when she was younger? Older? Of her family? Etc. It's really a thin slice of the person.

I also didn't like the way the author suddenly interjects himself into Alice's story...for seemingly no purpose. Example from p. 32:
"As the author of a book about the Babe and his first championship in New York, I was particularly enthralled by a story she told later in life, in her second memoir."

Uhhh...we don't need to know that you authored a book on Babe Ruth. He's interesting enough in the context of ALICE'S story.

But overall...once I got used to the quality blips...glad that I learned a lot about Alice Marble and it was an interesting read.

[Janet Graham · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very Detailed Biography - Well Worth Reading!
This biography is well researched and very well written. The author clearly states his sources. He also differentiates between fact, his opinion, and the opinions of others. He does not soft soap flaws in any of the persons in this book, nor does he make them out to be more than they are. This is a long book that is a slow read. I found myself putting this aside while I read something lighter, and then coming back to it. I am not a tennis player, did not know this woman before reading the book, but there is so much more to it. It is fascinating as the author brings us inside the heady days between the wars. The Hollywood scene with the glamorous stars rubbing elbows with Howard Hughes, William Randolph Hearst, the DuPont's and other industry titans. Playing tennis with Marion Davies, being friends with Carole Lombard, flirting with Errol Flynn. I enjoyed being a fly on the wall through it all. This biography is well worth reading. I received this ARC book for free from Net Galley and this is my honest review.

[Rebecca Shook]

Alice is fascinating. She overcame so much to be successful in tennis only to be thwarted by WWII in having the career she deservedly would have had. It’s a wonder I hadn’t heard of her before a couple of months ago.

While I find myself suspicious of the plausibility of some events she claims happened, it doesn’t take away from her credibility in tennis or the legacy she left behind. She was on the right side of civil rights, she was on the right side of health and she strived to always be her best regardless of her circumstances (collapsing on the court/losing a lung to pneumonia/suffering through 5 surgeries due to colon cancer to name a few).

I find this book was a little on the lengthy side and probably some of the profiles of other characters in her life could have been condensed. That said, she had a full life and a full book seems a reasonable commemoration.

[Patty · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am a tennis fan and liked learning about someone I confess I had not heard of. I truly don’t recall the commentators mentioning her but I became a serious tennis watcher in the early 80s. Her background was fascinating even if some of it couldn’t be verified or was contradictory. However, while the author did portray her life chronologically I felt that the chapters and/or material sometimes wandered from the subject. I also felt the book was too long and at times overwhelming with the material. It could have been pared down, in my humble opinion.

[Mitch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shame on me, as I had never heard of Wimbledon Champion Alice Marble. The author does a very nice job of telling her story and doing additional research to prove or disprove some of the story from her 2 autobiographies, as Alice made claims about her husband being killed during WWII and that she worked as a spy for the OCS during the war. I will not spoil his findings of her claims. Some stories went longer than necessary which resulted in my rating; however, I do recommend this biography of this great athlete.

[Kristin · Rating 2 out of 5]

Her accomplishments in tennis and as promoter of racial equality are many, yet her name isn't well known outside of tennis. She lived a life filled with celebrities of the times yet her recollections of events sometimes contradict other sources. The intrigue of her WWII "service" posed by the author turns out to be anti climatic.

[AcademicEditor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly interesting tale of a tennis star now mostly forgotten. The tennis and society parts were the most interesting. The parts of her life that cannot currently be substantiated (like the supposed spy career) could have been a lot shorter, since so much was speculative.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for a digital ARC for the purpose of an unbiased review.

[Beth Mitchell · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book reads like a novel even though it is non-fiction. Very interesting info about tennis, California, WWII, in the 1930s. I never heard of Alice Marble before and after reading this I wonder why she wasn't more famous. I guess fame was different before social media, 1000s of TV channels and publications for everything.
Enjoyed it very much.

[flyfishinglady · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read Courting Danger in the 90s, the unrevised edition. I enjoyed that book. I wanted to read more about Alice Marble. This book goes into lots of details about her life. Explains some things that may or may not be true. Wish there was more information to be found to verify Miss Marble’s story. Enjoyed the book.

[Trisha · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a biography of a woman who grows up in a poor California community and gets a coach to become a winner. I thought it interesting how it goes through the things going on in history during her life. Wars and the movie stars she hung out with. Gone with the wind was during her career.

[Kelly · Rating 2 out of 5]

I did not enjoy this book at all. I found myself skipping large sections and I considered not finishing several times. It will was difficult knowing what was fact and what was fiction. Plus, it was difficult getting any sense of her personality.

[Janet Adkins · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had never heard of Alice Marble so I enjoyed learning about her. The style of the writing didn't fully capture my attention. In my opinion there was too much extraneous information not directly about Alice that I didn't really feel added to her story.

[Pam Lobley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love tennis and old Hollywood and this had plenty to keep me entertained. Very informative and enjoyable read!

[Dale26 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice Marble - 1930's, tennis, fame and mystery, intriguing life, factual?

[Anne Lawrence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great history
Not as exciting as the original

[Kamie · Rating 3 out of 5]

An interesting and strange life.