or Helen Wills Moody in full Helen Newington Wills Moody Roark
born Oct. 6, 1905, Centerville, Calif., U.S.
died Jan. 1, 1998, Carmel, Calif.
U.S. tennis player.
She won the first of seven U.S. singles titles in 1923. She took the gold medal in both singles and doubles at the 1924 Olympic Games. So overpowering was her game that from 1927 to 1932 she won every set she played in U.S. singles play. She took the Wimbledon title eight times (1927–30, 1932, 1933, 1935, 1938), a record only broken in 1990 by Martina Navratilova .