Torben Ulrich, Danish writer, musician, filmmaker and professional tennis player, has died at the age of 95. Ulrich, the father of Metallica drummer Lars 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.

Between the 1940s and 1980s, Torben Ulrich spent most of his time as a professional tennis athlete, while still dabbling in various artforms including music, film, and journalism. During his time as a tennis pro, Ulrich had played for and won several tournaments, including the Stuttgart Open tournament in 1953. He reportedly also played over 100 Davis Cup matches, though he did not win the tournament. In 1977, at a month shy of 49, he became the oldest Davis Cup player in history.

Besides tennis, Torben Ulrich was also fond of jazz music, apprenticing for Reuters and contributing to several Danish jazz magazines. In the ’50s, he formed a New Orleans-inspired jazz band, in which he played the clarinet. In 2005, he founded an collaborative improvised music group named Instead Of, with Lori Goldston – who had worked with Nirvana – and other musicians like Angelina Baldoz and Jaison Scott. In 2021 – at the age of 92 – he released the album ‘Oakland moments: cello, voice, reuniting (rejoicing)’ with Lori Goldston. Torben has co-directed two films; 1988’s The Ball And The Wall with Gil de Kermadec, and 2002’s Body & Being: Before The Wall with Rick New and Molly Martin. He had also appeared in to of Jørgen Leth’s films, Motion Picture (1969) and Moments Of Play (1986).

In 1986, he received the Gerlev Prize from Gerlev Idrætshøjskole in Denmark for athletico-cultural contributions. In 2006, he received an award from Klara Karolines Fond, “for his inspiration to artists of many kinds and for his views on athletics, art and existence”.^[12] In 2013, the Ulrich family received the Davis Cup Award.