Maureen Catherine Connolly (1934 - 1969)

Born 17 Sep 1934 in San Diego, California, United States

Ancestors

Wife of Norman Eugene Brinker — married 11 Jun 1955 in San Diego, California, United States

Died 21 Jun 1969 at age 34 in Dallas, Texas, United States

Problems/Questions Profile manager: Ron Ragland [send private message]

Biography

Mo Connolly is Notable.

Maureen, "Mo", was an American Tennis Player. She won 9 major single titles in the early 1950's. In 1953, she became the first woman to win a Grand Slam (all four major tournaments in the same year). She is the only player in history to win a title without losing a set at all four major championships.

Maureen was born in 1934 in San Diego, California.^[1] Her parents divorced when she was 3 years old. She was raised by her mother and an Aunt. She loved to ride horses as a child. Her mother was not able to pay the money needed for her to get riding lessons, so she took up the game of tennis. Her career actually began at the age of 10. Her coach (Wilbur Folsom) encouraged her to switch from left handed grip to right. This worked well for her and soon she became a baseline specialist, with tremendous power and accuracy, along with a strong backhand. When Maureen was 11, she was dubbed "Little Mo" by San Diego sports writer Nelson Fisher. He compared her powerful backhand and forehand to that of the USS Missouri, known colloquially as "Big Mo." In 1948 she changed coaches and went with Eleanor Tennant. She had coached, Alice Marble, and Bobby Riggs, who were both Wimbledon and U.S. singles champions. At the age of 14, she won 56 consecutive matches and the following year, at age 15, she won the U.S. National Championship for girls 18 and under. She was the youngest girl to ever win the National Championship for Juniors, girls 18 and under.

In 1951, as a 16 year old, Connoly defeated Shirley Fry to become, at that time, the youngest to ever win America's most prestigious tennis tournament. Her coach was Eleanor Tennant.

Mo won her first Wimbledon title in 1952, defeating Louise Brough in the final. She arrived at the tournament with a shoulder injury. Her coach told her to withdraw from the tournament due to her injury, but she refused to. This resulted in the end of their partnership.

Connolly was seeded first in the 1952 U.S. Championship and successfully defended her title against Doris Hart. For the 1953 season she hired a new coach, Harry Hopman, (Australian Davis Cup team Captain). She decided to enter all four major tournaments that year, for the first time. She defeated Julie Haywood in the Australian Open, and Doris Hart in the finals of the French Championships, and at Wimbledon and the U. S. Championships. She became the first woman to win the world's four major titles in the same year, commonly known as a "Grand Slam." She lost only 1 set in those four tournaments.

Connolly won the last 9 Grand Slam singles tournaments she played, including 50 consecutive singles matches. During her Wightman Cup career from 1951 - 1954, she won all 7 of her singles matches. Her achievements she became the darling of the media and one of the most popular people in the United States. She was named, Female Athlete of the Year, by the Associated Press for 3 straight years, from 1951 to 1953. In 1954, she did not defend her title at the Australian Championships, but successfully defended her French and Wimbledon Championships.

Two weeks after she won her third-straight Wimbledon title, she went horseback riding in San Diego. It was July 20, 1954. A passing concrete mixer truck frightened her horse, Colonel Merryboy, which pinned Connolly between the horse and truck. She was then thrown off and suffered a compound fracture to her right fibula, which ended her tennis career. She intended to turn professional after winning the U.S. National Championships in 1954. She officially retired from tennis in February of 1955. She retained Melvin Bell as her lawyer and sued the concrete mixer company. In 1957, the Supreme Court of California unanimously affirmed a $95,000 jury verdict in her favor.

On June, 11, 1955, she married Norman Brinker in San Diego, California.^[2] They had 2 daughter, Cindy and Brenda. Norman was a member of the 1952 Olympic Equestrian Team for the United States.

Mo remained somewhat involved in tennis, acting as a correspondent for some U.S. and British newspapers at major U.S. Tennis Tournaments. She was also a coach for the British Wightman Cup Team during their visits to the United States. Mo established the Maureen Connolly Brinker Foundation to promote Junior Tennis.

In 1957 she published an autobiography, titled, "Forehand Drive." Connolly recognized the downside of her tennis career. She wrote, "I have always believed greatness on a tennis court was my destiny, at times, where the court became my secret jungle and I a lonely, fear-stricken hunter. I was a strange little girl armed with hate, fear, and a Golden Racket."

In 1966 she was diagnosed with Ovarian Cancer. On June, 4, 1969 she underwent a third operation for a stomach tumor at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. She died nearly three weeks later, on June, 21, 1969. She was 34 years old. ^[3]

According to The Daily Telegraph and the Daily Mail, Maureen Connolly was ranked in the world top 10 from 1951 through 1954. She was included in the year-end top-10 rankings issued by the United States Lawn Tennis Association from 1950 through 1953. She was the top ranked player from the United States from 1951 through 1953.

In 1956, Mo was inducted into the Breitbard Hall of Fame honoring San Diego's finest athletes. Maureen was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1969. She was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 1987.

Since 1973, the Maureen Connolly Challenge Trophy has been played yearly, between the best female tennis player age 18 and younger from the United States and Great Britain.

Brinker Elementary School in Plano, Texas was named in her honor. The school was dedicated on November 20, 1988.

Maureen Connolly was portrayed in a television movie that aired on September 5, 1978.

In 2019, the United States Postal Service released a commemorative Forever Stamp in her honor.^[4]

She passed away in 1969.^[5]

Sources

1. ↑ Birth: "California Birth Index, 1905-1995"
   Birthdate: 17 Sep 1934; Birth County: San Diego
   Ancestry Record 5247 #1958055 (accessed 2 August 2023)
   Maureen Catherine Connolly born on 17 Sep 1934.
2. ↑ Marriage: "California, U.S., Marriage Index, 1949-1959"
   Original data: California Department of Health and Welfare. California Vital Records—Vitalsearch
   Ancestry Sharing Link - Ancestry Record 5186 #20405738 (accessed 2 August 2023)
   Maureen C Connolly (20) marriage to Norman E Brinker on 11 Jun 1955 in San Diego, California, USA.
3. ↑ Death: "Texas, U.S., Death Index, 1903-2000"
   Original data: Texas Department of Health. Texas Death Indexes, 1903-2000. Austin, TX, USA: Texas Department of Health, State Vital Statistics Unit
   Ancestry Record 4876 #445321 (accessed 2 August 2023)
   Maureen Brinker death 21 Jun 1969 in Dallas.
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maureen_Connolly
5. ↑ https://findagrave.com/memorial/222

• https://familysearch.org/tree/person/details/K8YG-DX1