Robert J. Kelleher
| Full name | Robert Joseph Kelleher |
|---|---|
| Country (sports) |
 United States
|
| Born |
March 5, 1913 New York City, New York, United States |
| Died | June 20, 2012 (aged 99) Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Plays | Right-handed (one-handed backhand) |
| Int. Tennis HoF | 2000 (member page) |
| Singles | |
| Grand Slam Singles results | |
| US Open | 2R (1934, 1935) |
Robert Joseph Kelleher (March 5, 1913 – June 20, 2012) was a United States federal judge and an American tennis player and official, inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 2000. He graduated from Williams College in 1935, where he was a member of Delta Kappa Epsilon fraternity, and from Harvard Law School in 1938.
In 1941–42, Kelleher worked as an associate attorney in the U.S. Department of the Army in Los Angeles. He served in the U.S. Naval Reserve from 1943 to 1945. From 1945 to 1971, Kelleher was an attorney in private practice in the Los Angeles area, with the exception of his service as assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of California between 1948 and 1951.
In 1970, President Richard M. Nixon nominated Kelleher to be a U.S. district court judge for the Central District of California in Los Angeles. In 1977, he served as the judge in the separate trials of Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, the subjects of the 1985 movie The Falcon and the Snowman and the book of the same name. Kelleher assumed senior status in 1983 and served as a federal judge until his death at the age of 99 on June 20, 2012.
Kelleher was the New England Intercollegiate Doubles Champion in 1933 and won the Eastern Collegiate Doubles the same year. He won the Canadian mixed doubles championship in 1947 with his wife Gracyn Wheeler Kelleher. Kelleher was the U.S. Davis Cup Captain in 1962–63 (winning in 1963) and was a three-time U.S. Hard Court 45s doubles champion.
As president of the United States Lawn Tennis Association (USLTA) in 1967–68, Kelleher helped make open tennis a reality in 1968. Prior to his presidency, major tennis tournaments were closed to professional players and prize money was not offered. Kelleher was instrumental in changing this system, thus allowing anyone to play and instituting legitimate prize money in tournaments. He also participated extensively in the activities of the Southern California Tennis Association.
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