- Born
- Died
- Birth nameVytautas Kevin Gerulaitis
- Nickname
- The Lithuanian Lion
- Height6′ (1.83 m)
- Vitas Gerulaitis was born on July 26, 1954 in Brooklyn, New York, USA. He was an actor, known for Nobody's Perfect (1989), The Break (1995) and The Daryl Somers Show (1982). He died on September 18, 1994 in Southampton, New York, USA.
- Died while taking a nap at a friend's house in Long Island; carbon monoxide from a swimming-pool heater seeped into his room through the air-conditioning system. An autopsy showed the gas had displaced 75% of the oxygen in his blood.
- Buried at Saint Charles Cemetery, Farmingdale, New York. Jimmy Connors, John McEnroe and 'Bjorn Borg' were among his pallbearers. Among those at the funeral were Billie Jean King, Chris Evert, Tony Trabert, John Lloyd, Fred Stolle and Cliff Drysdale.
- Engaged for 3 years to actress Janet Jones (Mrs. Wayne Gretzky)
- Coached Pete Sampras at the Italian Open in 1994 when Sampras's then-coach, the late Tim Gullikson, was on vacation. Sampras called him "Uncle Vitas."
- Son of Lithuanian immigrants.
- "And let that be a lesson to you all. Nobody beats Vitas Gerulaitis 17 times in a row." -- post-match conference after beating Jimmy Connors after Connors had beaten him 16 times in a row.
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