Manual Orantes: Kirk Douglas Wanted to be a Professional Tennis Player

Kirk Douglas, the famous Hollywood actor who passed away earlier this week at the age of 103, wanted to be a professional tennis player, according to Spanish tennis legend Manual Orantes.

Speaking to EFE in a telephone conversation, Orantes says, "A sad and beautiful news on the same day. I found out on the radio. He was a great actor and all his films were very beautiful and his interpretations great, very virile and very credible. One day he confessed to me that his great illusion would have been to be a professional in tennis, which he would have loved, to which I replied that I would have liked to be an actor or singer. I always liked the Rolling Stones and the Beatles, and for course Mick Jagger. We had met several times before in a tournament that was played over there (Indian Wells) and I accepted, and the one who talked the most and asked me things was his wife Anne Buydens, a great tennis fan like him. His death has left a deep mark on me... I met his family, his children, and then I followed his entire career," adds Orantes.

Orantes' wife Rosa also provided another interesting anecdote related to Orantes and her travels back in the day during the interview. "Before, when there was no internet, everything was not so programmed, and unforeseen and spontaneous things happened. I remember a year in Washington, that when we arrived at the hotel room we found an invitation from the Kennedy to have dinner with them. We were in tracksuit and we changed quickly and I put on a white mink coat, which was then worn a lot. But when he got off, the driver warned us that the Kennedy didn't like the skins, so I had to leave him in the room and go with a dress, I was freezing cold. I remember that as soon as I entered his house I found a Manolo's picture and Jacqueline told me: The only thing I know of Spain is Manuel Orantes and Cordobés."

from Tennis World USA https://ift.tt/38lK1nO