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Stars, Athletes, Politicians to Boost Drug Abuse Fund

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Times Staff Writer

Enlisting in the war against drugs, a colorful cross-section of entertainment stars, athletes and politicians will throw on their tennis togs and go to battle on the White House tennis court Saturday in an effort to raise $450,000 for the Nancy Reagan Drug Abuse Fund.

Looking forward to the first celebrity tennis exhibition ever held at the White House, Rams quarterback Jeff Kemp, one of several participants from Los Angeles, said, “It is probably my one chance in a lifetime to play tennis with an ambassador.”

Kemp was caught by surprise when told by a reporter that he was teamed with Swedish Ambassador Count Wilhelm Wachmeister against tennis pro Gene Mayer and actress Cathy Lee Crosby.

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“What is the ambassador’s name again?” he said.

“We’re playing against Gene Mayer? That’s his job!”

Against Gene Mayer and Cathy Lee Crosby, who has become high profile in Washington since becoming the romantic companion of Redskin quarterback Joe Theismann.

‘More of a Decoy’

“She (Crosby) will probably be more of a decoy; hard to watch the ball,” Kemp said.

The six-match exhibition has drawn $50,000 contributions from each of nine corporate sponsors, whose guests will fill most of the 200 temporary bleacher seats set up at the White House tennis court. No tickets are available to the general public.

The exhibition is planned to be the first in a series of special events to raise money for the Nancy Reagan Drug Abuse Fund, a permanent endowment established by the Community Foundation of Greater Washington, a tax-exempt, public foundation. Proceeds of the exhibition will go to drug abuse facilities selected by a foundation committee.

The featured match, which will be the only one viewed by the President and Mrs. Reagan, pits John Forsythe and tennis pro Pam Shriver against tennis pro Roscoe Tanner and Secretary of State George Shultz.

As if that isn’t glitzy enough, the match will be umpired by Tom Selleck and Brooke Shields.

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Marcus Allen of the Los Angeles Raiders will team with Shriver in an earlier match against Mayer and Olympic swimming gold medalist Steve Lundquist. Other contests include Tanner and Joe Wright (Office of Management and Budget) against Dwight Clark of the San Francisco 49ers and John Havlicek (former Boston Celtic), “Hill Street Blues” star Veronica Hamel and FBI director William Webster against actor Robert Duvall and Theismann; and actress Dina Merrill and Sen. Paul Laxalt (R-Nev.) against Rolf Bernirske (San Diego Chargers) and John Herrington (Department of Energy).

Famous Tales

The White House tennis court, located on the southwest corner of the White House grounds, is the scene of many famous tales. The embattled Bert Lance, director of the Office of Management and Budget, handed over his resignation to President Jimmy Carter during a match there. Carter took a lot of heat for personally overseeing the court’s schedule, a habit that came to be a popular symbol of what many felt was the fatal flaw of his presidency: the unwillingness to delegate authority on small matters. Carter aide Hamilton Jordan played so often that he could be seen during work hours in the White House offices in his tennis outfit. Teddy Roosevelt played tennis there with his son, and Presidents John Kennedy and Gerald Ford were avid players as well. (The Reagans are not big tennis players.) The most dramatic incident involves an unlikely tragedy. Calvin Coolidge Jr., the President’s son, developed a blister on his foot while playing tennis on the court June 30, 1924, and died a week later of infection and other complications.

Saturday’s event will add to the court’s lore, and segments of it are being filmed by NBC to be shown during its Wimbledon coverage.

It has not gone unnoticed that the field of celebrities is heavily represented by two professions that have had particular problems with drug abuse: entertainment and sports.

“If you can get any recognition, not for yourself but for an athlete doing something positive about drug abuse, it can offset some of the negative stories on athletes and drugs,” Kemp said. “A large majority of athletes don’t use drugs. But if even one or two guys on a team are using drugs, it’s a serious problem.

“I don’t see drugs being used on our team, but I know we’ve had players just this past year who had to leave the team to go through drug rehabilitation programs in the hospital.”

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Kemp, who talks to schoolchildren about drug abuse, says he thinks professional athletes have problems with drugs because “athletes are young and relatively wealthy, and it happens so quickly.”

Kemp, whose father, Jack, is an influential Republican congressman from New York, applauded Mrs. Reagan’s campaign against drug abuse among American youth.

“I would imagine her efforts are being accepted very warmly (by American youth),” Kemp said.

The corporations that have agreed to sponsor the tournament at this point include Occidental Petroleum, Citicorp/Diners Club, Times Mirror Co., General Motors, Prince Manufacturing Inc., Eagle Snacks, General Nutrition Inc., Stephens Inc. and United Technologies.

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