REEL FACE: | REAL FACE: |
Emma Stone
Born: November 6, 1988 Birthplace: Scottsdale, Arizona, USA | Billie Jean King
Born: November 22, 1943 Birthplace: Long Beach, California, USA |
Steve Carell
Born: August 16, 1962 Birthplace: Concord, Massachusetts, USA | Bobby Riggs
Born: February 25, 1918 Birthplace: Los Angeles, California, USA Death: October 25, 1995, Leucadia, Encinitas, California, USA (prostate cancer) |
Elisabeth Shue
Born: October 6, 1963 Birthplace: Wilmington, Delaware, USA | Priscilla Wheelan
Born: November 25, 1926 Birthplace: New York, USA Death: March 19, 1995, San Diego, California, USA College Yearbook Photo (1948) |
Sarah Silverman
Born: December 1, 1970 Birthplace: Bedford, New Hampshire, USA | Gladys Heldman
Born: May 13, 1922 Birthplace: New York City, New York, USA Death: June 22, 2003, Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA (suicide by gunshot) |
Austin Stowell
Born: December 24, 1984 Birthplace: Kensington, Connecticut, USA | Larry King
Born: January 30, 1945 Birthplace: Dayton, Ohio, USA |
Bill Pullman
Born: December 17, 1953 Birthplace: Hornell, New York, USA | Jack Kramer
Born: August 1, 1921 Birthplace: Las Vegas, Nevada, USA Death: September 12, 2009, Bel Air, California, USA (soft tissue cancer) |
Andrea Riseborough
Born: November 20, 1981 Birthplace: Newcastle upon Tyne, Northumberland, England, UK | Marilyn Barnett
Born: January 28, 1948 Death: May 5, 1997 |
Alan Cumming
Born: January 27, 1965 Birthplace: Aberfeldy, Perthshire, Scotland, UK | Ted Tinling
Born: June 23, 1910 Birthplace: Eastbourne, England, UK Death: May 23, 1990 (respiratory complications) |
Natalie Morales
Birthplace: Kendall, Florida, USA | Rosie Casals
Born: September 16, 1948 Birthplace: San Francisco, California, USA |
Eric Christian Olsen
Born: May 31, 1977 Birthplace: Eugene, Oregon, USA | Lornie Kuhle
Born: abt 1944 |
Martha MacIsaac
Born: October 11, 1984 Birthplace: Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada | Jane 'Peaches' Bartkowicz
Born: April 16, 1949 Birthplace: Hamtramck, Michigan, USA |
Yes. The Battle of the Sexes true story confirms that Billie Jean King (pictured below) began an intimate relationship with her secretary in 1971. She publicly acknowledged her relationship with Marilyn Barnett in 1981 and became the first prominent American athlete to openly admit to having a gay relationship. King's admission was in part because Barnett had sued her for lifetime support, as well as the Malibu beach house where she had been staying that she said King had promised her.
Yes. Fact-checking the Battle of the Sexes movie confirmed that Bobby Riggs won Wimbledon in 1939 as a 21-year-old amateur. He was ranked number one in the world (or co-No. 1) in 1939 and as a professional in 1946 and 1947. He was twice the United States singles champion, winning the US Open in 1939 and 1941.
Yes. The match took place at the San Diego Country Estates, 38 miles northeast of San Diego. Australian Margaret Court, 30, was a 3-time Wimbledon champion and 4-time Women's Singles champion of the United States. She was ranked number one and was the current leading money winner on the women's pro tour, playing some of her best tennis. Riggs, 55, walked onto the court and presented her with a bouquet of Mother's Day flowers. Around 5,000 spectators were on hand for the match, including celebrities like John Wayne, O.J. Simpson, Bill Cosby, and former tennis great Pancho Segura. The No. 1-ranked Court was paid $10,000 to play in the match. Riggs' lobs and drop shots proved to be too much for Margaret Court and he won 6-2, 6-1. "I didn't expect him to mix it up like that," she told reporters after the match that became known as the "Mother's Day Massacre." "We girls don't play like that." Watch Margaret Court vs. Bobby Riggs match highlights. -History.com
At a press conference before her own match with Riggs, Billie Jean King jokingly commented, "Now that Margaret went ahead and opened the door, and did such a miserable job, I think that I can beat Bobby." -CBS This Morning
The true story reveals that an estimated worldwide television audience of 90 million (50 million in the U.S.) tuned in to watch the Battle of the Sexes match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs on Thursday, September 20, 1973. The match took place at the Houston Astrodome where 30,472 were in attendance, the largest audience to ever watch a tennis match in the United States. -60 Minutes
Yes. À la Cleopatra, Billy Jean King entered the tennis court on a feather-adorned litter carried by four muscular bare-chested men dressed like ancient slaves. Bobby Riggs similarly arrived in a ricksaw pulled by scantily dressed female models he called "Riggs' Bosom Buddies." King gave Riggs a piglet as a symbol of male chauvinism after Riggs handed her a giant Sugar Daddy lollipop (Riggs also wore a yellow Sugar Daddy jacket that he removed after the third game). King had on a pair of blue suede sneakers. Riggs planned to give the pig back to King years later after it was fully grown but he never did.
Yes. They never really hated each other before the match and became quite close after. "I really respected him and liked him," King said in an ABC News interview. "He was one of my heroes. I stayed in touch with Bobby. The night before he passed away I talked to him. ... I told him I loved him and he told me he loved me, and I think he was proud of himself." King said that Riggs had many layers to his character, and like her own inner struggle with her sexual identity at the time, Riggs had a lot of turmoil going on in his life too, including having been recently divorced.
"Every time I see it I'm just in awe of each of the actors and what they brought to it," Billie Jean King told The Hollywood Reporter. "It was just so authentic, and so real, and accurate." King worked with Emma Stone and the filmmakers in order to help them get it right.
Yes. While fact-checking the Battle of the Sexes movie, we learned that there have been quite a few notable matches of male vs. female tennis players, dating all the way back to 1888 when the men's Wimbledon champion, Ernest Renshaw, took on the ladies' champion, Lottie Dod. Dod started each game with a 30-0 advantage but lost in three sets (2-6, 7-5, 7-5).
One of the more notable modern-day male vs. female matches was the 1992 Navratilova v Connors match, where a 40-year-old Jimmy Connors took on Martina Navratilova, 35. Connors was only allowed one serve per point and Navratilova was also given the advantage of being able to hit into half of the doubles alleys. Regardless, Connors claimed victory 7-5, 6-2.
In 1998, the Williams sisters each individually took on German Karsten Braasch, having claimed they could beat any male player outside the top 200. Braasch, then-ranked 203, beat Serena 6-1 and beat Venus 6-2. After, the Williams sisters modified their claim to any male player outside the top 350. -The Observer
Below we serve up a selection of videos, including a Bobby Riggs interview from before the 1973 Battle of the Sexes match. In another video, Billie Jean King is interviewed and looks back on the match 40 years later, discussing her enduring friendship with Riggs.