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.
Billie Jean King attends the premiere of “Rocketman” at Alice Tully Hall on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Billie Jean King attends the 38th annual Footwear News Achievement Awards at Cipriani South Street on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
FILE – In this Wednesday June 26 2013 file photo, former professional tennis champion Billie Jean King and Ilana Kloss at the premier of Battle of the Sexes in London. Billie Jean King and partner Ilana Kloss have joined the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group. The Dodgers made the announcement Thursday, Sept. 20, 2018. The tennis great says Dodgers owner and chairman Mark Walter and the organization have proven to be leaders in sports on and off the field. (Photo by Jon Furniss/Invision/AP, File)
Los Angeles Dodgers owner & chairman Mark Walter, left, and Dodger president & CEO Stan Kasten, right, pose for photographers to announce adding to the baseball team ownership group, tennis champions Billie Jean King, second from left, and her partner Ilana Kloss during a news conference in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. In addition, to joining the Dodgers ownership group, King and Kloss are also expected to join Mark Walter as a member of the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks ownership group, pending league approval. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
Tennis champion Billie Jean King displays a poster of singer Elton John, from a 1975 Dodger Stadium concert she participated, after a news conference that added she and her partner, Ilana Kloss to the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
Tennis champions Billie Jean King and her partner Ilana Kloss pose for photographers on the field after a news conference that added the two to the Los Angeles Dodgers ownership group in Los Angeles, Friday, Sept. 21, 2018. (AP Photo/Alex Gallardo)
FILE – In this Oct. 7, 2017 file photo, tennis great Billie Jean King poses for photographers upon arrival at the premiere of the film “Battle of the Sexes” during the London Film Festival. King and former NBA star Kareem Abdul-Jabbar are lending their names to Athlete Ally, a nonprofit targeting homophobia in sports. (Photo by Vianney Le Caer/Invision/AP, File)
Billie Jean King, left, and Ilana Kloss, right, attend the Elton John AIDS Foundation’s 17th annual “An Enduring Vision” benefit gala at Cipriani 42nd Street on Monday, Nov. 5, 2018, in New York. (Photo by Andy Kropa/Invision/AP)
Tennis great Billie Jean King speaks to the media before the first-round Fed Cup tennis matches between the United States and Australia in Asheville, N.C.Saturday, Feb. 9, 2019. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Tennis great Billie Jean King, right, and recording artist Gladys Knight, left, watch a first-round Fed Cup tennis match between United States’ Madison Keys and Australia’s Ashleigh Barty in Asheville, N.C., Sunday, Feb. 10, 2019. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton)
Nominated for the title of greatest U.S. woman athlete of the past 25 years in an election sponsored by the Women’s Sports Foundation, five stars, from left, Wilma Rudolph, Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert Lloyd, Billie Jean King and Mary Decker, get together in New York, Sept. 10, 1984. They were selected from 29 candidates by a media panel and will be voted on n a nationwide election. (AP Photo/Marty Lederhandler)
Billy Jean King making her tournament debut after a first round bye returns ball to 18 year old Anne Smith of Dallas on Sept. 2, 1977. Miss King outlasted the 18 year old Miss Smith, 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff)
Billie Jean King left, and 18-year-old Anne Smith of Dallas shake hands over the net after Ms. King outlasted Ms. Smith in a second round U.S. Open women’s singles, match on Friday, Sept. 2, 1977 at the West Side Tennis Club in Forest Hills, NY. King won 6-3, 3-6, 7-5. (AP Photo/Dave Pickoff)
Billie Jean King attends the women’s finals of the U.S. Open tennis championships on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2019, in New York (Photo by Greg Allen/Invision/AP)
Former tennis pro and co-owner of the Los Angeles Dodgers Billie Jean King throws out the ceremonial first pitch prior to a baseball game between the Dodgers and the Colorado Rockies Saturday, Sept. 21, 2019, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
In this Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2019, photo tennis great and founder of the Women’s Sports Foundation Billie Jean King, left, and soccer star Megan Rapinoe pose for photos on the red carpet of the Women’s Sports Foundation’s 40th annual Salute to Women in Sports in New York. Rapinoe, who was honored at the gala, won Sportswoman of the Year in the team category. She led the U.S. women’s soccer team to victory at the World Cup in France and earned the FIFA Player of the Year award. (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)
Billie Jean King attends A+E Network’s “HISTORYTalks: Leadership and Legacy” at Carnegie Hall on Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in New York. (Photo by Evan Agostini/Invision/AP)
Billie Jean King attends the Broadway opening night of “Alan Cumming Is Not Acting His Age” at Studio 54 on Monday, March 11, 2024, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
Billie Jean King, right, talks with her partner Ilana Kloss on Centre Court ahead of the semifinal match between Donna Vekic of Croatia and Jasmine Paolini of Italy at the Wimbledon tennis championships in London, Thursday, July 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Alberto Pezzali)
FILE – Billie Jean King speaks after Serena Williams defeated Danka Kovinic during the first round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Aug. 29, 2022, in New York. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
CORRECTS ID TO DIANA SHNAIDER OF RUSSIA NOT DARIA SNIGUR OF UKRAINE Tennis legend Billie Jean King cheers during a match between Jessica Pegula, of the United States, and Diana Shnaider, of Russia, in the fourth round of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Monday, Sept. 2, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Kirsty Wigglesworth)
Billie Jean King waves to the crowd during the women’s singles semifinals between Emma Navarro, of the United States, and Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Thursday, Sept. 5, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
Billie Jean King poses with Jessica Pegula, left, of the United States, and Aryna Sabalenka, of Belarus, following the women’s singles final of the U.S. Open tennis championships, Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024, in New York. Sabalenka won the match (AP Photo/Frank Franklin II)
Tennis great Billie Jean King speaks after being introduced as grand marshal of the 136th Rose Parade next year on the front steps of the Tournament House in Pasadena, Calif., Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Tennis great Billie Jean King, left, is introduced by Tournament of Roses President Ed Morales as grand marshal of the 136th Rose Parade next year on the front steps of the Tournament House in Pasadena, Calif., Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Tennis great Billie Jean King poses after being introduced as grand marshal of the 136th Rose Parade next year on the front steps of the Tournament House in Pasadena, Calif., Monday, Oct. 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
Billie Jean King, left, and Ilana Kloss, right, pose for photos on the red carpet at the Women’s Sports Foundation’s Annual Salute to Women in Sports, Wednesday, Oct. 16, 2024, in New York. (AP Photo/Pamela Smith)
US tennis legend Billie Jean King waves to the crowd prior the trophy ceremony of the Billie Jean King Cup final at the Martin Carpena Sports Hall in Malaga, southern Spain, on Wednesday, Nov. 20, 2024. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
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Billie Jean King attends the premiere of “Rocketman” at Alice Tully Hall on Wednesday, May 29, 2019, in New York. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP)
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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 beginning 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.
