‘Bud Collins’ series premieres
August 29, 2013
LOS ANGELES — Tennis Channel will celebrate the remarkable life and career of Hall of Fame tennis journalist, broadcaster, personality and historian Bud Collins with Signature Series: Bud Collins during the network’s coverage of the 2013 US Open. The latest installment of the channel’s exclusive, original Signature Series documentary line will debut Monday, Sept, 2, at 6 p.m. ET. A complete schedule of episode airdates can be found on Tennis Channel’s Web site at www.tennischannel.com/schedule.
Signature Series: Bud Collins is narrated by the 84-year-old Collins, who has been America’s pre-eminent voice of tennis for the past half century. Viewers will also get to hear from many of the players Collins covered and journalists and broadcasters he helped influence, including: Rod Laver, Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Martina Navratilova, Dick Enberg, Don Ohlmeyer, Donald Dell, Mike Lupica, Lesley Visser, Dan Shaughnessy, Frank Deford and several others.
“Tennis Channel’s Signature Series: Bud Collins captures the life of a man who is truly the story of tennis in America today,” said Laura Hockridge, vice president, original programming, Tennis Channel. “Bud is the voice behind the growth of tennis from a country club pastime shared by a relatively small community to a multimillion-dollar, major television sport enjoyed by people throughout the United States.”
Here are a few of the scenes in the unparalleled life Bud Collins:
“He was an educator… he took a country that knew little about tennis and said, come on I’ll tell you all about it… He had the ability to make people believe that they were his friend… he had been everywhere, knew everyone and hadn’t forgotten anything.” – Mike Lupica
“I know they say clothes make the man, but in this case, the man made the clothes… He was the Mark Twin of our era.” – Lesley Visser
“He was the premier historian, premier writer for the Boston Globe and… also the leading guy on television… He was the outstanding promoter of Open tennis going into pro tennis.” – Donald Dell
Signature Series: Bud Collins is the seventh edition in Tennis Channel’s exclusive, original Signature Series line, which debuted in 2009. Other tennis personalities and subjects have included Martina Navratilova, Pete Sampras, Rene Lacoste, Vitas Gerulaitis, Rod Laver and the sport’s centuries-old origins.