Walter Van Rensselaer Berry

Walter Van Rensselaer Berry (July 29, 1859 – October 12, 1927) was an American lawyer, international judge, tennis player, and Francophile. He was a judge at the International Mixed Tribunal of Cairo, Egypt. He was also a leading American tennis player active in the late 19th century, winning the 1884 U.S. National Championships – Doubles. While living as an expat in Paris, Berry was a close associate of Henry James, Marcel Proust, and Edith Wharton.

Early life Berry was born on July 29, 1859 in Paris, France. His parents were Catherine Van Rensselaer and Nathaniel Berry. Berry early years were spent in Paris, before his family returned to Albany, New York. He attended St. Mark's School.

Berry graduated from Harvard University in 1881. Berry enrolled in Columbia University in 1883.

In 1885, he won the men's singles at the Wentworth Invitation, the Narragansett Pier Open, and the Lenox Invitation.

Berry played in the semifinals of the 1885 U.S. National Championships – Singles. He ended the 1885 season ranked number three in the United States. After the U.S. Ambassador to France, Berry was considered the most influential American in France. Geoffrey Wolff, in his life of Harry Crosby, describes Berry as a fashion plate well over six feet tall. Caresse described him to me very much as she did in her careless memoirs—slimness, thinness, wearing a morning coat and striped trousers like a diplomat and highly polished button-shoes. His arms were long and like pipestems. He could be witty, if a little on the pedantic side. His manner with women (said Caresse) was "gallant and wicked." Something frigid and formidable about his countenance, very sec.