Born on May 5, 1913, in New York City, Kelleher received an Artium Baccalaureus degree in 1935 from Williams College and a Juris Doctor in 1938 from Harvard Law School.

[1][3] In 1977, Kelleher served as the judge in the separate trials[4][5] of Christopher Boyce and Andrew Daulton Lee, the subjects of the 1985 movie The Falcon and the Snowman and the book of the same name.

[citation needed] Kelleher was the U.S. Davis Cup Captain in 1962–63 (winning in 1963) and was a three-time U.S. Hard Court 45s doubles champion.

Prior to his presidency, major tennis tournaments were closed to professional players and prize money was not offered.

Kelleher was instrumental in changing this system, thus allowing anyone to play and instituting legitimate prize money in tournaments.