Torben Ulrich

Torben Ulrich (born 4 October 1928) is a Danish writer, musician, filmmaker and former professional tennis player. He is the father of Metallica drummer Lars Ulrich. Biography Ulrich was born on 4 October 1928 in Copenhagen, the son of Ulla (née Meyer) and tennis player Einer Ulrich. Torben played on the tennis tour from the late 1940s into the 1970s, and on the Tennis Grand Masters tour in the 1970s and 1980s. Torben won the Antwerp International singles title on red clay in 1951 and again in 1956 when he defeated Jacques Brichant in the final. He won the Stuttgart Open tournament in 1953 on red clay. He became a professional tennis player when he signed a contract with the World Championship Tennis promoters in early 1969 at 40 years old. In 1976 he was the top-ranked senior player in the world. Ulrich played more than 100 Davis Cup matches for Denmark. In 1977, at a month shy of 49, he became the oldest Davis Cup player in history. Ulrich apprenticed at Reuters news agency in Copenhagen in the late 1940s and began writing for Danish jazz magazines. In the 1950s he wrote primarily on music for the Danish newspapers Information and Politiken, wrote for contemporary jazz music trade journals and was co-editor (with Gustava Brandt and Bengt Janus) of the literary magazine Bazar. In the 1960s he had a weekly music column and wrote jazz reviews and roving reports on assorted cultural themes (with illustrator Klaus Albrectsen) for the Danish daily newspaper BT. In the 1970s he contributed to the music periodical M.M. and in the 1980s and 1990s returned to Information writing on music, film, athletics and culture. In 2003 an anthology of his writings from the 1940s to the 2000s, Jazz, bold & buddhisme, edited by Lars Movin, was published (in Danish) by Informations Forlag. Two books of his thin columns of poetry-like texts (in English) were published by Forlaget Bebop: "Terninger, tonefald: 12 Lines, 36 Off-lines" (2005) and "Stilhedens Cymbaler" (2007).