"Babe" is a very good biopic of one of the greatest athletes of all time - and arguably the greatest female athlete in history. Mildred Ella Didriksen (originally spelled with an 'e'), aka "Babe" Didrikson Zaharias, may have excelled in more sports than any other person in history. From the 1920s to the mid-1950s, Babe learned and played more than a dozen sports. They included archery, baseball, basketball, billiards, bowling, diving, figure skating, football, golf, softball, swimming, tennis, and track and field. She competed and won in many of these sports as an amateur and/or professional.
That was in the days when there still were limited opportunities for women in sports. And, when various limits applied in some fields including the Olympics. It was before athletes began to specialize in one sport. And, Babe did all of this by herself. She studied her sports and practiced constantly. She had no professional coaching or trainer. And, she didn't have the specialized equipment and technical aids of today. But no other woman can match Babe Zaharias for wins and performances in diverse sports.
In the 1932 Olympics, Didrikson became the first woman to win two gold medals and win medals in all three categories of track and field - running, jumping and throwing. Three events was then the maximum number a female athlete could compete in. Babe won gold in the 80-meter hurdles with a world record time, and won the javelin with an Olympic record throw. She then won the silver medal with a world record tie in the high jump, but got second to a fellow American because her jumping technique wasn't approved.
Babe's record going into the Olympics that year was astounding. At the 1932 Olympic tryouts and AAU championships, Didrikson entered eight of the 10 women's events. She won six gold medals and set four world records. She won three of the five Olympic events - those that she would win medals in at the Olympics. And, she won three of the five AAU events that weren't then women's Olympic events - the long jump, shot put and baseball throw. Didrikson was so accomplished an athlete that her AAU sponsor also entered her as a one-member team. And, she won the team championship by 30 points to 22 points for the second-place team of 20 female athletes from Illinois.
Only the limits on the number of sports one could compete in prevented Didrikson from likely winning more Olympic medals. She was a member of the 1930-32 women's All-American basketball team. Basketball only became a men's Olympic sport after 1936, and women's in 1976. Indeed, had there been a heptathlon (begun in 1984) or women's pentathlon (begun in 1964), Babe Didrikson surely would have entered and probably won either of those events.
Babe played professional softball and basketball, and pitched three innings of professional baseball. Probably the only thing that kept her from setting records in more sports was time. There wasn't enough to devote to all of her interests in sports all the time. An example is swimming. When she swam with some other women who were competitors, while she was doing track and field and playing team sports, Babe outswam the others.
But, for as great an all-around athlete as she was, Babe made her mark mostly after she took up golf in her early 20s. After the Olympics and basketball and softball playing, she took to golf feverishly. She taught herself and practiced 12 to 16 hours a day. She won her first tournament two years later. Before she died of cancer at age 45 in 1956, Babe Didrikson Zaharias won many amateur opens and then dominated women's professional golf. She met and married wrestler George Zaharias at the start of her golfing career. She won 82 golf tournaments including 41 titles in the LPGA, which she helped found In 1950.
While Didrikson's super high confidence in sports didn't appeal to everyone and some disliked her brazenness, she was well-liked by many. Her persona included much joking and humor. She was a star in all sense of the word in the world of golf. A New York Times writer, Charles McGrath, wrote about Babe, that, "Except perhaps for Arnold Palmer, no golfer has ever been more beloved by the gallery."
As with most Hollywood movies, "Babe" polishes the life of Babe Didrikson Zaharias, overlooking some of the rough side of her character. But this is a very good movie that's mostly about her life as a great golfer, her marriage, and her fight with cancer. Susan Clark is very good as Babe. She won the best actress prime time Emmy award for her performance. Former pro football player and actor, Alex Karras, plays Zaharias. Interestingly, Clark and Zaharias married five years after they starred together in this TV film.
The year before she died, Babe Zaharias won the 1954 U. S Women's Open. She had undergone cancer surgery just 18 months before. She played 72 holes of golf over three days and won the Ladies PGA title by 12 strokes. And that was while wearing a colostomy bag for her cancer. Is there another athlete, living or dead, who would have played under those circumstances? Indeed, is there anyone else who would still have won, smothering all opponents? In her acceptance speech at the Salem Golf Club near Peabody, Massachusetts, Babe said God answered her prayer to let her play again. She said, "And I wanna thank God for letting me win again."
People have their favorites in everything. Most who follow sports would agree that Babe Didrikson Zaharias was among the best athletes who ever lived. Whether or not she was the greatest athlete of all time, she was a great humanitarian and model for perseverance, confidence, and work ethic.
