HOLLYWOOD (CNS) – Tennis pioneer Billie Jean King will add another first to her list of accomplishments Monday when she becomes the first woman to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in the sports entertainment category.
The category was announced in 2021 by the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, which administers the Walk of Fame. It honors individuals, not teams or sports affiliated groups, who have made significant contributions to the world of entertainment and demonstrated “longevity of excellence” in their sport, according to Ana Martinez, the Hollywood Walk of Fame’s producer.
New York Giants Hall of Fame defensive end turned “Good Morning America” anchor Michael Strahan was the first recipient in the category in 2023.
The second recipient was the late Carl Weathers, honored for a nearly 50-year acting career best remembered for his portrayal of Sylvester Stallone’s boxing nemesis-turned-friend and mentor Apollo Creed in the first four “Rocky” movies.
Weathers played linebacker for San Diego State, the Oakland Raiders and Canadian Football League’s BC Lions before his acting career.
Coincidentally, King and Weathers are both gradates of Long Beach Poly High School.
King is being honored for her work as an executive producer of the 2023 Public Broadcasting Service documentary series, “Groundbreakers,” which paired King and such other legendary female athletes as Basketball Hall of Famer Nancy Lieberman, two-time Women’s World Cup champion and two-time Olympic gold medalist Julie Foudy and rack and field world-record holder Jackie Joyner- Kersee with such current stars as four-time tennis singles Grand Slam champion Naomi Osaka, two-time Olympic gold medal-winning snowboarder Chloe Kim and two- time Olympic gymnastics gold medalist Sunisa Lee, Martinez told City News Service.
King’s other entertainment credits include being an executive producer of “The Battle of the Sexes,” a 2013 documentary on her 1973 match against Bobby Riggs, portraying a judge on a 2007 episode of the long-running NBC crime and legal drama, “Law & Order,” and portraying herself on episodes of such series as “Fresh Off the Boat,” “Arli$$” and a 1973 episode of “The Odd Couple” that featured Riggs.
Basketball Hall of Famer Earvin “Magic” Johnson, a fellow member of the Dodgers’ ownership group with King, and Oscar-winning actress Jamie Lee Curtis, a longtime friend of King’s, are set to join her in speaking at the 11:30 a.m. ceremony at 6284 Hollywood Blvd., adjacent to the W Hotel.
All Walk of Fame ceremonies are streamed on walkoffame.com, and can later be seen on youtube.com/@HwdWalkofFame.
The star is the 2,807th since the completion of the Walk of Fame in 1961 with the initial 1,558 stars.
King is a pioneer in the women’s rights and gender-equality movements. In 1970, she was part of the “Original Nine” women’s professional tennis players who broke away from the governing bodies of tennis to form their own professional tour, the Virginia Slims Circuit, which later evolved into the modern Women’s Tennis Association Tour.
King was also among the founders of World Team Tennis, the first co-ed professional sports league. She is a member of the Professional Women’s Hockey League Founding Advisory Board. The league’s Most Valuable Player award is named for her.
King won 39 Grand Slam titles — 12 in singles competition, 16 in women’s doubles and 11 in mixed doubles. In 1971, King became the first woman athlete to earn $100,000 in a year.
King was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1987. In 1990, Life magazine named her one of the “100 Most Important Americans of the 20th Century.” The other sports figures on the list were Babe Ruth, Jackie Robinson and Muhammad Ali.
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