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Muhammad Ali

Muhammad Ali

Acting · Crew

Born January 17, 1942, Louisville, Kentucky, USA

Muhammad Ali (born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer, activist, entertainer and philanthropist. Nicknamed The Greatest, he is widely regarded as one of the most significant and celebrated figures of the 20th century and as one of the greatest boxers of all time. Ali was born and raised in Louisville, Kentucky. He began training as an amateur boxer at age 12. At 18, he won a gold medal in the light heavyweight division at the 1960 Summer Olympics and turned professional later that year. He became a Muslim after 1961. He won the world heavyweight championship from Sonny Liston in a major upset on February 25, 1964, at age 22. On March 6, 1964, he announced that he no longer would be known as Cassius Clay but as Muhammad Ali. In 1966, Ali refused to be drafted into the military, citing his religious beliefs and ethical opposition to the Vietnam War. He was found guilty of draft evasion so he faced 5 years in prison and was stripped of his boxing titles. He stayed out of prison as he appealed the decision to the Supreme Court, which overturned his conviction in 1971, but he had not fought for nearly four years and lost a period of peak performance as an athlete. Ali's actions as a conscientious objector to the Vietnam War made him an icon for the larger counterculture generation, and he was a very high-profile figure of racial pride for African Americans during the civil rights movement and throughout his career. As a Muslim, Ali was initially affiliated with Elijah Muhammad's Nation of Islam (NOI). He later disavowed the NOI, adhering to Sunni Islam, and supporting racial integration like his former mentor Malcolm X. Ali was a leading heavyweight boxer of the 20th century, and he remains the only three-time lineal champion of that division. His joint records of beating 21 boxers for the world heavyweight title and winning 14 unified title bouts stood for 35 years. He is the only fighter to have been ranked as the world's best heavyweight by BoxRec twelve times. He has been ranked among BoxRec's ten best heavyweights seventeen times, the third most in history. He won 8 fights that were rated by BoxRec as 5-Star, the third most in the history of the heavyweight division. Ali is the only boxer to be named The Ring magazine Fighter of the Year six times. He has been ranked the greatest heavyweight boxer of all time, and as the greatest athlete of the 20th century by Sports Illustrated, the Sports Personality of the Century by the BBC, and the third greatest athlete of the 20th century by ESPN SportsCentury. He was involved in several historic boxing matches and feuds, most notably his fights with Joe Frazier, such as the Fight of the Century and the Thrilla in Manila, and his fight with George Foreman, known as The Rumble in the Jungle, which has been called "arguably the greatest sporting event of the 20th century" and was watched by a record estimated television audience of 1 billion viewers worldwide, becoming the world's most-watched live television broadcast at the time. Ali thrived in the spotlight at a time when many fighters let their managers do the talking, and he was often provocative and outlandish. He was known for trash-talking, and often free-styled with rhyme schemes and spoken word poetry, anticipating elements of hip hop.

Filmography

Appearances as themselves (146)
  • 20269/11: United We Stand -- 25 Years Later — Self (archive footage)
  • 2026Jerry West: The Logo — Self (Archive Footage)
  • 2026Untold Mr. T: I Pity the Fool — Self (archive footage)
  • David Frost Vs — self (archive footage)
  • 2024Beatles '64 — Self (archive footage)
  • 202370 Jahre Annemarie Moser-Pröll – Ein Leben als Wintermärchen — Self (archive footage)
  • Bill Russell: Legend — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023Cassius X: Becoming Ali — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023Franz Klammer - The Ski "Kaiser" Will Be 70 — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023My Father Muhammad Ali — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023Stand — Self (archive footage)
  • 2023Untold: Jake Paul the Problem Child — Self (archive footage)
  • 2022Behind the Shield: The Power and Politics of the NFL — Self (archive footage)
  • 2022McEnroe — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • 2022Say Hey, Willie Mays! — Self (archive footage)
  • The Century of Icons — Self (archive footage)
  • 1971: The Year That Music Changed Everything — Self (archive footage)
  • A Life in Ten Pictures — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Blood Brothers: Malcolm X & Muhammad Ali — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Boulevard! A Hollywood Story — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Mister Candid Camera — Self (archive footage)
  • Muhammad Ali — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Parkinson at 50 — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Pelé — Self (archive Footage)
  • 2021Ron Lyle — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street — Self (archive footage)
  • 2021Untold: Deal with the Devil — Self - Professional Boxer (archive footage)
  • 70 Years of Youth Revolt — Self (archive footage)
  • 2020Ali's Comeback: The Untold Story — Self (archive footage)
  • 2020Da 5 Bloods — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • 2019Africa Rising — Self - Boxer (archive footage)
  • 2019Pariah: The Lives and Deaths of Sonny Liston — Self (archive footage)
  • 2019Thrilla in Manila — Self
  • 2019Toni Morrison: The Pieces I Am — Self (archive footage)
  • What's My Name | Muhammad Ali — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018Ali & Cavett: The Tale of the Tapes — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018Andre the Giant — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018Black Is Beltza — Self (voice) (archive footage)
  • Explained — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018In Search of Greatness — Self (archive footage)
  • Shut Up and Dribble — Self (archive footage)
  • 2018The Champ and the King — Self (archive footage)
  • 2017American Made — Self (archive footage) (uncredited)
  • 2016Muhammad Ali - Rumble in the Jungle — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016O.J.: Made in America — Self (archive footage)
  • O.J.: Made in America — Self (archive footage)
  • 2016Sticky: A (Self) Love Story — Self
  • 2015Best of Enemies — Self (archival)
  • 2015Les vendredis d'Apostrophes — Self (archive footage)
  • The Seventies — Self (archive footage)
  • 2014I Am Ali — Self (archive footage)
  • 2014Muhammad Ali: The Greatest — Self (Archival Footage)
  • 2014Robbed — Self
  • 2013Ali: The Mission — Self (archive footage)
  • 2013Legends of Mid-South Wrestling — Himself
  • 2013Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight — Himself (archive footage)
  • 2013The Trials of Muhammad Ali — Self (archive footage)
  • 2012Norman Mailer: The American — Self
  • 2012WWE: Undertaker 20-0 - The Streak — Self (archive footage)
  • 2011The Real Rocky — Self (archive footage)
  • 2009Facing Ali — Self
  • 2009Muhammad Ali: Fighting Spirit — himself
  • 2009Muhammad and Larry — Himself
  • 2009Rumble in the Jungle — Self
  • 2009Soul Power — Self (archive footage)
  • 2008Black Power Salute — Self (archive footage)
  • 2008Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson — Self (archive footage)
  • 2008James Brown - The Night James Brown Saved Boston — Self (archive footage)
  • 2008Muhammad Ali: Made in Miami — Himself
  • 2008Thrilla in Manila — Himself (archive footage)
  • 2008Tyson — Self (archive footage)
  • 2006Ali Rap — Himself
  • 2006Ali's Dozen — Self
  • 2006Darts Tarts – Welcome to my World — Self (archive footage)
  • 2006Legends Never Die — Self (archive footage)
  • 2006Out From Ali's Shadow: The Larry Holmes Story — Self (Archival Footage)
  • Parkinson — Self - Guest (archive footage)
  • 2004Pelé Forever — Self (archive footage)
  • 2004TV in Black: The First Fifty Years — Self (archive footage)
  • 2003Jack Paar: Smart Television — Self
  • 2003The Last Round: Chuvalo vs. Ali — Himself
  • 2002Monday Night Mayhem — Self (archive footage)
  • 2001Michael Jackson: 30th Anniversary Celebration — Self
  • 2001Muhammad Ali - Through The Eyes Of The World — Himself
  • 2001Muhammad Ali, the Greatest — Self (archive footage)
  • 2001The Making of 'Ali' — Self
  • 2001When Boxing Ruled The World — Self
  • 2000Ali-Frazier I: One Nation... Divisible — Self
  • 2000Champions Forever - World Heavyweight Champs! — Himself
  • 2000Freestyle: The Art of Rhyme — Himself
  • 1998B.B. King: Live In Africa '74 — Self
  • 1998Sugar Ray Robinson: The Bright Lights and Dark Shadows of a Champion — Himself
  • 1998The Best of the Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts — Self - Roastee (archive footage)
  • 1996Atlanta 1996: Games of the XXVI Olympiad - Opening Ceremony — Self
  • Muhammad Ali: The Whole Story — Self
  • 1996The Journey of the African-American Athlete — Self (archive footage)
  • 1996When We Were Kings — Self
  • 1995Boxing's Greatest Champions — Self
  • 1995Kings of The Ring - History of Heavyweight Boxing 1919-1990 — Himself (Archival Footage)
  • 1995Kings of the Ring: Four Legends of Heavyweight Boxing — Himself
  • Touched by an Angel — Self
  • 1994WCW Halloween Havoc 1994 — Himself (Ringside)
  • 1993Naked Sport: Welcome to the Sewer — Self
  • 1990Night of 100 Stars III — Self
  • 1990The Best of ABC's Wide World of Sports: The 60's — Self
  • 1989Champions Forever — Self
  • 1988Mike Tyson vs Larry Holmes — Self
  • 1986Mike Tyson vs Trevor Berbick — Self
  • 1983James Bond: The First 21 Years — Self
  • Wogan — Self
  • 1981Body and Soul — Himself
  • 1981Diana — Self
  • 1981Muhammad Ali vs. Trevor Berbick — Self
  • The Captain and Tennille — Self - Guest
  • Apostrophes — Self
  • 1975Funny Girl to Funny Lady — Self
  • 1975Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier III — Self
  • 1974Black Soul — Self
  • 1974Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier II — Self
  • 1974Muhammad Ali, the Greatest — Self
  • 1974The Fight — Himself
  • 1974The Fighters — Self
  • 1974The Rumble in the Jungle: George Foreman vs. Muhammad Ali — Self
  • 1972Black Rodeo — Self
  • 1972Malcolm X — Self (archive footage)
  • 1972Money Talks — Self
  • 1972Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson II — Self
  • 1972Wake Up and Apologise — Self
  • 1971Fight of the Century — Self
  • 1971Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier I — Self
  • 1970The Super Fight — Himself
  • 1970a.k.a. Cassius Clay — Self
  • The Dick Cavett Show — Self - Guest
  • 1966Goal! — Self
  • 1965Muhammad Ali vs. Floyd Patterson I — Self
  • 1965Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston II — Self
  • 1964Muhammad Ali vs. Sonny Liston I — Self
  • 1963Cassius Clay vs. Doug Jones — Self
  • Der Sport-Spiegel — Self
  • 1962Requiem for a Heavyweight — Himself (as Cassius Clay)
  • The Merv Griffin Show — Self
  • The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson — Self
  • 1961Cassius Clay vs. Alonzo Johnson — Self
  • The Mike Douglas Show — Self
  • What's My Line? — Self - Mystery Guest
  • Bambi — Self (archive footage)
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