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name | Muhammad Ali |
---|---|
nationality | American |
nickname | The GreatestThe ChampThe Louisville Lip |
height | |
reach | |
weight | Heavyweight |
birth date | January 17, 1942 |
birth place | Louisville, Kentucky, US |
style | Orthodox |
total | 61 |
wins | 56 |
ko | 37 |
losses | 5 |
draws | 0 |
no contests | 0 |
Medaltemplates | }} |
Originally known as Cassius Clay, Ali changed his name after joining the Nation of Islam in 1964, subsequently converting to Sunni Islam in 1975, and more recently to Sufism. In 1967, Ali refused to be conscripted into the U.S. military, based on his religious beliefs and opposition to the Vietnam War. He was arrested and found guilty on draft evasion charges, stripped of his boxing title, and his boxing license was suspended. He was not imprisoned, but did not fight again for nearly four years while his appeal worked its way up to the U.S. Supreme Court, where it was successful.
Nicknamed "The Greatest", Ali was involved in several historic boxing matches. Notable among these are three with rival Joe Frazier and one with George Foreman, whom he beat by knockout to win the world heavyweight title for the second time. He suffered only five losses (four decisions and one TKO by retirement from the bout) with no draws in his career, while amassing 56 wins (37 knockouts and 19 decisions). Ali was well known for his unorthodox fighting style, which he described as "float like a butterfly, sting like a bee", and employing techniques such as the rope-a-dope. He was also known for his pre-match hype, where he would "trash talk" opponents on television and in person some time before the match, often with rhymes. These personality quips and idioms, along with an unorthodox fighting technique, made him a cultural icon. In later life, Ali developed Parkinson's syndrome. In 1999, Ali was crowned "Sportsman of the Century" by Sports Illustrated and "Sports Personality of the Century" by the BBC.
Clay was first directed toward boxing by the white Louisville police officer and boxing coach Joe E. Martin, who encountered the 12-year-old fuming over the theft of his bicycle. However, without Martin's knowledge, Clay began training with Fred Stoner, an African-American trainer working at the local community center. In this way, Clay could make $4 a week on Tomorrow's Champions, a local, weekly TV show that Martin hosted, while benefiting from the coaching of the more experienced Stoner. For the last four years of Clay's amateur career he was trained by legendary boxing cutman Chuck Bodak.
Clay won six Kentucky Golden Gloves titles, two national Golden Gloves titles, an Amateur Athletic Union National Title, and the Light Heavyweight gold medal in the 1960 Summer Olympics in Rome. Clay's amateur record was 100 wins with five losses.
Ali states (in his 1975 autobiography) that he threw his Olympic gold medal into the Ohio River after being refused service at a 'whites-only' restaurant, and fighting with a white gang. Whether this is true is still debated, although he was given a replacement medal at a basketball intermission during the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, where he lit the torch to start the games.
Standing tall, at 6-ft, 3-in (1.91 m), Clay had a highly unorthodox style for a heavyweight boxer. Rather than the normal style of carrying the hands high to defend the face, he instead relied on foot speed and quickness to avoid punches, and carried his hands low.
From 1960 to 1963, the young fighter amassed a record of 19–0, with 15 knockouts. He defeated boxers such as Tony Esperti, Jim Robinson, Donnie Fleeman, Alonzo Johnson, George Logan, Willi Besmanoff, Lamar Clark (who had won his previous 40 bouts by knockout), Doug Jones and Henry Cooper.
Clay built a reputation by correctly predicting the round in which he would "finish" several opponents, and by boasting before his triumphs. Clay admitted he adopted the latter practice from "Gorgeous" George Wagner, a popular professional wrestling champion in the Los Angeles area who drew thousands of fans. Often referred to as "the man you loved to hate," George could incite the crowd with a few heated remarks, and Ali followed suit.
Among Clay's victims were Sonny Banks (who knocked him down during the bout), Alejandro Lavorante, and the aged Archie Moore (a boxing legend who had fought over 200 previous fights, and who had been Clay's trainer prior to Angelo Dundee). Clay had considered continuing using Moore as a trainer following the bout, but Moore had insisted that the cocky "Louisville Lip" perform training camp chores such as sweeping and dishwashing. He considered having his idol, Sugar Ray Robinson, as a manager, but instead hired Dundee.
Clay first met Dundee when the latter was in Louisville with light heavyweight champ Willie Pastrano. The teenaged Golden Gloves winner traveled downtown to the fighter's hotel, called Dundee from the house phone, and was asked up to their room. He took advantage of the opportunity to query Dundee (who had worked with champions Sugar Ramos and Carmen Basilio) about what his fighters ate, how long they slept, how much roadwork (jogging) they did, and how long they sparred.
Following his bout with Moore, Clay won a disputed 10-round decision over Doug Jones in a matchup that was named "Fight of the Year" for 1963. Clay's next fight was against Henry Cooper, who knocked Clay down with a left hook near the end of the fourth round. The fight was stopped in the fifth due to deep cuts over Cooper's eyes.
Despite these close calls, Clay became the top contender for Sonny Liston's title. However, although he had an impressive record, he was not widely expected to defeat the champ. The fight was scheduled for February 25, 1964 in Miami, Florida, but was nearly canceled when the promoter, Bill Faversham, heard that Clay had been seen around Miami and in other cities with the controversial Malcolm X, a member of The Nation of Islam. Because of this, news of this association was perceived as a potential gate-killer to a bout which, given Liston's overwhelming status as the favorite to win (7–1 odds), had Clay's colorful persona and nonstop braggadocio as its sole appeal.
Faversham confronted Clay about his association with Malcolm X (who, at the time, was actually under suspension by the Nation as a result of controversial comments made in the wake of President Kennedy's assassination). While stopping short of admitting he was a member of the Nation, Clay protested the suggested cancellation of the fight. As a compromise, Faversham asked the fighter to delay his announcement about his conversion to Islam until after the fight. The incident is described in the 1975 book The Greatest: My Own Story by Ali (with Richard Durham).
During the weigh-in on the day before the bout, the ever-boastful Clay, who frequently taunted Liston during the buildup by dubbing him "the big ugly bear" (among other things), declared that he would "float like a butterfly and sting like a bee," and, summarizing his strategy for avoiding Liston's assaults, said, "Your hands can't hit what your eyes can't see."
At the pre-fight weigh-in, Clay's pulse rate was around 120, more than double his norm of 54. Liston, among others, misread this as nervousness. In the opening rounds, Clay's speed kept him away from Liston's powerful head and body shots, as he used his height advantage to beat Liston to the punch with his own lightning-quick jab.
By the third round, Clay was ahead on points and had opened a cut under Liston's eye. Liston regained some ground in the fourth, as Clay was blinded by a substance in his eyes. It is unconfirmed whether this was something used to close Liston's cuts, or deliberately applied to Liston's gloves; however, Bert Sugar has claimed that "in two of his previous fights, Liston's opponents had complained about their eyes 'burning'", suggesting the possibility that the Liston corner deliberately attempted to cheat.
Liston began the fourth round looking to put away the challenger. As Clay struggled to recover his vision, he sought to escape Liston's offensive. He was able to keep out of range until his sweat and tears rinsed the substance from his eyes, responding with a flurry of combinations near the end of the fifth round. By the sixth, he was looking for a finish and dominated Liston. Then, Liston shocked the boxing world when he failed to answer the bell for the seventh round, stating he had a shoulder injury. At the end of the fight, Clay boasted to the press that doubted him before the match, proclaiming, "I shook up the world!"
When Clay beat Liston, he was the youngest boxer (age 22) ever to take the title from a reigning heavyweight champion, a mark that stood until Mike Tyson won the title from Trevor Berbick on 22 November 1986. At the time, Floyd Patterson (dethroned by Liston) had been the youngest heavyweight champ ever (age 21), but he won the title during an elimination tournament following Rocky Marciano's retirement by defeating Archie Moore, the light-heavyweight champion at the time.
In the rematch with Liston, which was held in May 1965 in Lewiston, Maine, Ali (who had by then publicly converted to Islam and changed his name) won by knockout in the first round as a result of what came to be called the "phantom punch." Many believe that Liston, possibly as a result of threats from Nation of Islam extremists, or in an attempt to "throw" the fight to pay off debts, waited to be counted out (see Muhammad Ali versus Sonny Liston). Others, however, discount both scenarios and insist that it was a quick, chopping Ali punch to the side of the head that legitimately felled Liston.
Ali was scheduled to fight WBA champion Ernie Terrell (the WBA stripped Ali of his title after his agreement to fight a rematch with Liston) on March 29, 1966, but Terrell backed out. Ali won a 15-round decision against substitute opponent George Chuvalo. He then went to England and defeated Henry Cooper by stoppage on cuts May 21, and knocked out Brian London in the third round in August. Ali's next defense was against German southpaw Karl Mildenberger, the first German to fight for the title since Max Schmeling. In one of the tougher fights of his life, Ali stopped his opponent in round 12.
Ali returned to the United States in November 1966 to fight Cleveland "Big Cat" Williams in the Houston Astrodome. According to the Sports Illustrated account, the bout drew an indoor world record 35,460 fight fans. A year and a half before the fight, Williams had been shot in the stomach at point-blank range by a Texas policeman. As a result, Williams went into the fight missing one kidney and of his small intestine, and with a shriveled left leg from nerve damage from the bullet. Ali beat Williams in three rounds.
On February 6, 1967, Ali returned to a Houston boxing ring to fight Terrell in what is regarded as one of the uglier fights in boxing. Terrell had angered Ali by calling him Clay, and the champion vowed to punish him for this insult. During the fight, Ali kept shouting at his opponent, "What's my name, Uncle Tom ... What's my name?" Terrell suffered 15 rounds of brutal punishment, losing 13 rounds on two judges' scorecards, but Ali did not knock him out. Analysts, including several who spoke to ESPN on the sports channel's "Ali Rap" special, speculated that the fight continued only because Ali wanted to thoroughly punish and humiliate Terrell. After the fight, Tex Maule wrote, "It was a wonderful demonstration of boxing skill and a barbarous display of cruelty." When asked about this during a replay of the fight on ABC's popular "Wide World of Sports" by host Howard Cosell, Ali said he was not unduly cruel to Terrell- that boxers are paid to punch all their opponents into submission or defeat. He pointed out that if he had not hit and hurt Terrell, Terrell would have hit and hurt him, which is standard practice. Cosell's repeated reference to the topic surprised Ali. Following his final defense against Zora Folley in March 1967 Ali would be stripped of his title the following month for refusing to be drafted into the Army and had his professional boxing license suspended.
Many sportswriters of the early 1960s reported that it was Ali's brother, Rudy Clay, who converted to Islam first (estimating the date as 1961). Others wrote that Clay had been seen at Muslim rallies a few years before he fought Liston. Ali's own version is that he would sneak into Nation of Islam meetings through the back door roughly three years before he fought Sonny Liston.
Aligning himself with the Nation of Islam made him a lightning rod for controversy, turning the outspoken but popular champion into one of that era's most recognizable and controversial figures. Appearing at rallies with Nation of Islam leader Elijah Muhammad and declaring his allegiance to him at a time when mainstream America viewed them with suspicion—if not outright hostility—made Ali a target of outrage, as well as suspicion. Ali seemed at times to provoke such reactions, with viewpoints that wavered from support for civil rights to outright support of separatism. For example, Ali once stated, in relation to integration: "We who follow the teachings of Elijah Muhammad don't want to be forced to integrate. Integration is wrong. We don't want to live with the white man; that's all." And in relation to inter-racial marriage: "No intelligent black man or black woman in his or her right black mind wants white boys and white girls coming to their homes to marry their black sons and daughters." Indeed, Ali's religious beliefs at the time included the notion that the white man was "the devil" and that white people were not "righteous." Ali claimed that white people hated black people.
Ali converted from the Nation of Islam sect to mainstream Sunni Islam in 1975. In a 2004 autobiography, written with daughter Hana Yasmeen Ali, Muhammad Ali attributes his conversion to the shift toward Sunni Islam made by Warith Deen Muhammad after he gained control of the Nation of Islam upon the death of Elijah Muhammad in 1975. Later in 2005 he embraced spiritual practices of Sufism.
Appearing shortly thereafter for his scheduled induction into the U.S. Armed Forces on April 28, 1967 in Houston, he refused three times to step forward at the call of his name. An officer warned him he was committing a felony punishable by five years in prison and a fine of $10,000. Once more, Ali refused to budge when his name was called. As a result, he was arrested and on the same day the New York State Athletic Commission suspended his boxing license and stripped him of his title. Other boxing commissions followed suit.
At the trial on June 20, 1967, after only 21 minutes of deliberation, the jury found Ali guilty. After a Court of Appeals upheld the conviction, the case went to the U.S. Supreme Court. During this time, the public began turning against the war and support for Ali began to grow. Ali supported himself by speaking at colleges and universities across the country, where opposition to the war was especially strong. On June 28, 1971, the Supreme Court reversed his conviction for refusing induction by unanimous decision in Clay v. United States. The decision was not based on, nor did it address, the merits of Clay's/Ali's claims per se; rather, the Government's failure to specify which claims were rejected and which were sustained, constituted the grounds upon which the Court reversed the conviction.
Ali and Frazier met in the ring on March 8, 1971, at Madison Square Garden. The fight, known as "The Fight of the Century," was one of the most eagerly anticipated bouts of all time and remains one of the most famous. It featured two skilled, undefeated fighters, both of whom had legitimate claims to the heavyweight crown. Frank Sinatra—unable to acquire a ringside seat—took photos of the match for Life magazine. Legendary boxing announcer Don Dunphy and actor and boxing aficionado Burt Lancaster called the action for the broadcast, which reached millions of people. The fight lived up to the hype, and Frazier punctuated his victory by flooring Ali with a hard, leaping left hook in the 15th and final round. Frazier retained the title on a unanimous decision, dealing Ali his first professional loss.
In 1972 Muhammad Ali held the "Muhammad Ali Boxing Show," a series of exhibition matches between himself and other wrestlers. In San Antonio, Texas, during the exhibition series, on October 24, 1972, Ali lost against boxer Elmo Henderson.
In 1973, Ali fought Ken Norton, who had broken Ali's jaw and won by split decision over 12 rounds in their first bout in 1972. Ali won the rematch, by split decision, on September 10, 1973, which set up Ali-Frazier II, a nontitle rematch with Joe Frazier, who had already lost his title to George Foreman. The bout was held on January 28, 1974, with Ali winning a unanimous 12-round decision.
Almost no one, not even Ali's long-time supporter Howard Cosell, gave the former champion a chance of winning. Analysts pointed out that Joe Frazier and Ken Norton had given Ali four tough battles in the ring and won two of them, while Foreman had knocked out both of them in the second round. As a matter of fact, so total was the domination that, in their bout, Foreman had knocked down Frazier an incredible six times in only four minutes and 25 seconds.
During the bout, Ali employed an unexpected strategy. Leading up to the fight, he had declared he was going to "dance" and use his speed to keep away from Foreman and outbox him. However, in the first round, Ali headed straight for the champion and began scoring with a right hand lead, clearly surprising Foreman. Ali caught Foreman nine times in the first round with this technique but failed to knock him out. He then decided to take advantage of the young champion's weakness: staying power. Foreman had won 37 of his 40 bouts by knockout, mostly within three rounds. Eight of his previous bouts did not go past the second round. Ali saw an opportunity to outlast Foreman, and capitalized on it.
In the second round, the challenger retreated to the ropes—inviting Foreman to hit him, while counterpunching and verbally taunting the younger man. Ali's plan was to enrage Foreman and absorb his best blows to exhaust him mentally and physically. While Foreman threw wide shots to Ali's body, Ali countered with stinging straight punches to Foreman's head. Foreman threw hundreds of punches in seven rounds, but with decreasing technique and potency. Ali's tactic of leaning on the ropes, covering up, and absorbing ineffective body shots was later termed "The Rope-A-Dope".
By the end of the seventh round, Foreman was exhausted. In the eighth round, Ali dropped Foreman with a combination at center ring and Foreman failed to make the count. Against the odds, Ali had regained the title.
The "Rumble in the Jungle" was the subject of a 1996 Academy Award winning documentary film, When We Were Kings. The fight and the events leading up to it are extensively depicted in both John Herzfeld's 1997 docudrama Don King: Only in America and Michael Mann's 2001 docudrama, Ali.
On October 1, 1975, Ali fought Joe Frazier for the third time. Taking place in the Philippines, the bout was promoted as the Thrilla in Manila by Don King, who had ascended to prominence following the Ali-Foreman fight. The anticipation was enormous for this final clash between two great heavyweights. Ali believed Frazier was "over the hill" by that point. Ali's frequent insults, slurs and demeaning poems increased the anticipation and excitement for the fight, but enraged a determined Frazier. Regarding the fight, Ali famously remarked, "It will be a killa... and a chilla... and a thrilla... when I get the gorilla in Manila."
The fight lasted 14 grueling rounds in temperatures approaching . Ali won many of the early rounds, but Frazier staged a comeback in the middle rounds, while Ali lay on the ropes. By the late rounds, however, Ali had reasserted control and the fight was stopped when Frazier was unable to answer the bell for the 15th and final round (his eyes were swollen closed). Frazier's trainer, Eddie Futch, refused to allow Frazier to continue.
In September 1976, at Yankee Stadium, Ali faced Ken Norton in their third fight, with Ali winning a close but unanimous 15-round decision. 1977 saw Ali defend his title against Alfredo Evangelista and Earnie Shavers. Fight doctor Ferdie Pacheco left Ali's camp following the Shavers fight after being rebuffed for advising Ali to retire.
In February 1978, Ali lost the heavweight title to 1976 Olympics Champion Leon Spinks. On September 15, 1978, Ali fought a rematch in the New Orleans Louisiana Superdome against Spinks for the WBA version of the Heavyweight title, winning it for a record third time. Ali retired following this victory on June 27, 1979, but returned in 1980 to face current champion Larry Holmes in an attempt to win a heavyweight title an unprecedented four times. Angelo Dundee refused to let his man come out for the 11th round, in what became Ali's only loss by anything other than a decision. Ali's final fight, a loss by unanimous decision after 10 rounds, was to up-and-coming challenger Trevor Berbick in 1981.
In 1978, three years before Ali's permanent retirement, the Board of Aldermen in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky voted 6–5 to rename Walnut Street to Muhammad Ali Boulevard. This was controversial at the time, as within a week 12 of the 70 street signs were stolen. Earlier that year, a committee of the Jefferson County Public Schools considered renaming Central High School in his honor, but the motion failed to pass. At any rate, in time, Muhammad Ali Boulevard—and Ali himself—came to be well accepted in his hometown.
In 1993, the Associated Press reported that Ali was tied with Babe Ruth as the most recognized athlete, out of over 800 dead or alive athletes, in America. The study found that over 97% of Americans, over 12-years of age, identified both Ali and Ruth.
He was the recipient of the 1997 Arthur Ashe Courage Award.
He appeared at the 1998 AFL (Australian Football League) Grand Final, where Anthony Pratt invited him to watch the game. He greets runners at the start line of the Los Angeles Marathon every year.
In 1999, the BBC produced a special version of its annual BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award ceremony, and Ali was voted their Sports Personality of the Century, receiving more votes than the other four contenders combined. His daughter Laila Ali became a boxer in 1999, despite her father's earlier comments against female boxing in 1978: "Women are not made to be hit in the breast, and face like that... the body's not made to be punched right here [patting his chest]. Get hit in the breast... hard... and all that."
On September 13, 1999, Ali was named "Kentucky Athlete of the Century" by the Kentucky Athletic Hall of Fame in ceremonies at the Galt House East.
In 2001, a biographical film, entitled Ali, was made, directed by Michael Mann, with Will Smith starring as Ali. The film received mixed reviews, with the positives generally attributed to the acting, as Smith and supporting actor Jon Voight earned Academy Award nominations. Prior to making the Ali movie, Will Smith had continually rejected the role of Ali until Muhammad Ali personally requested that he accept the role. According to Smith, the first thing Ali said about the subject to him was: "Man, you're almost pretty enough to play me."
On November 17, 2002, Muhammad Ali went to Afghanistan as "U.N. Messenger of Peace". He was in Kabul for a three-day goodwill mission as a special guest of the UN.
On January 8, 2005, Muhammad Ali was presented with the Presidential Citizens Medal by President George W. Bush.
He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on November 9, 2005, and the "Otto Hahn Peace Medal in Gold" of the UN Association of Germany (DGVN) in Berlin for his work with the US civil rights movement and the United Nations (December 17, 2005).
On November 19, 2005 (Ali's 19th wedding anniversary), the $60 million non-profit Muhammad Ali Center opened in downtown Louisville. In addition to displaying his boxing memorabilia, the center focuses on core themes of peace, social responsibility, respect, and personal growth.
According to the Ali Center website, "Since he retired from boxing, Ali has devoted himself to humanitarian endeavors around the globe. He is a devout Muslim, and travels the world over, lending his name and presence to hunger and poverty relief, supporting education efforts of all kinds, promoting adoption and encouraging people to respect and better understand one another. It is estimated that he has helped to provide more than 22 million meals to feed the hungry. Ali travels, on average, more than 200 days per year."
At the FedEx Orange Bowl on January 2, 2007, Ali was an honorary captain for the Louisville Cardinals wearing their white jersey, number 19. Ali was accompanied by golf legend Arnold Palmer, who was the honorary captain for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons, and Miami Heat star Dwyane Wade.
A youth club in Ali's hometown and a species of rose (Rosa ali) have been named after him. On June 5, 2007, he received an honorary doctorate of humanities at Princeton University's 260th graduation ceremony.
Ali lives in Scottsdale, Arizona with his fourth wife, Yolanda "Lonnie" Ali. They own a house in Berrien Springs, Michigan, which is for sale. On January 9, 2007, they purchased a house in eastern Jefferson County, Kentucky for $1,875,000. Lonnie converted to Islam from Catholicism in her late 20s.
On the August 17, 2009, it was voted unanimously by the town council of Ennis, Co Clare, Ireland to make Ali the first Freeman of Ennis. Ennis was the birthplace of Ali's great grandfather before he emigrated to the U.S. in the 1860s, before eventually settling in Kentucky. On September 1, 2009, Ali visited the town of Ennis and at a civic reception he received the honour of the freedom of the town.
Ali is generally considered to be one of the greatest heavyweights of all time by boxing commentators and historians. Ring Magazine, a prominent boxing magazine, named him number 1 in a 1998 ranking of greatest heavyweights from all eras.
Ali was named the second greatest fighter in boxing history by ESPN.com behind only welterweight and middleweight great Sugar Ray Robinson. In December 2007, ESPN listed Ali second in its choice of the greatest heavyweights of all time, behind Joe Louis.
On August 17, 1967, Ali (aged 25) married 17-year old Belinda Boyd. After the wedding, she converted to Islam and changed her name to Khalilah Ali, though she was still called Belinda by old friends and family. They had four children: Maryum (b. 1968), Jamillah and Rasheda (b. 1970), and Muhammad Ali Jr. (b. 1972).
In 1975, Ali began an affair with Veronica Porsche, an actress and model. By the summer of 1977, Ali's second marriage was over and he had married Veronica. At the time of their marriage, they had a baby girl, Hana, and Veronica was pregnant with their second child. Their second daughter, Laila, was born in December 1977. By 1986, Ali and Veronica were divorced.
On November 19, 1986, Ali married Yolanda Ali. They had been friends since 1964 in Louisville. Asaad Amin, who they adopted when Amin was five.
Ali has two other daughters, Miya and Khaliah, from extramarital relationships.
As a world champion boxer and social activist, Ali has been the subject of numerous books, films and other creative works. In 1963, he released an album of spoken word on Columbia Records titled I am the Greatest! He has appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated on 37 different occasions, second only to Michael Jordan. He appeared in the documentary film Black Rodeo (1972) riding both a horse and a bull. His autobiography The Greatest: My Own Story, written with Richard Durham, was published in 1975. In 1977 the book was adapted into a film called The Greatest, in which Ali played himself and Ernest Borgnine played Angelo Dundee. When We Were Kings, a 1996 documentary about the Rumble in the Jungle, won an Academy Award, and the 2001 biopic Ali garnered an Oscar nomination for Will Smith's portrayal of the lead role.
For contributions to the entertainment industry, Muhammed Ali was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame at 6801 Hollywood Boulevard.
{{S-ttl| title = WBA Heavyweight boxing champion | years = February 25, 1964 – June 19, 1964 (Stripped) }} {{S-ttl| title = WBC Heavyweight boxing champion | years = February 25, 1964 – March 11, 1969 (Stripped) }}
{{S-ttl| title = WBA Heavyweight boxing champion| | years = February 6, 1967 – April 28, 1967 (Stripped) }}
{{S-ttl| title = NABF Heavyweight boxing champion | years = December 17, 1970–1971 (Vacated) }}
{{S-ttl| title = NABF Heavyweight boxing champion | years = Ju1y 26, 1971 – March 31, 1973 }}
{{S-ttl| title = NABF Heavyweight boxing champion | years = September 10, 1973–1974 (Vacated) }}
{{S-ttl| title = WBA Heavyweight boxing champion | years = October 30, 1974 – February 15, 1978 }} {{S-ttl| title = WBC Heavyweight boxing champion | years = October 30, 1974 – February 15, 1978 }}
{{S-ttl| title = WBA Heavyweight boxing champion | years = September 15, 1978 – September 6, 1979 (Vacated) }}
Category:1942 births Category:Living people Category:African American boxers Category:American boxers of Irish descent Category:American people of English descent Category:American anti–Vietnam War activists Category:Boxers from Kentucky Category:World heavyweight boxing champions Category:Heavyweight boxers Category:World Boxing Association Champions Category:World Boxing Council Champions Category:African American Muslims Category:American conscientious objectors Category:American Sufis Category:Boxers at the 1960 Summer Olympics Category:COINTELPRO targets Category:Converts to Islam from Christianity Category:International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Category:Kentucky colonels Category:Olympic boxers of the United States Category:Olympic gold medalists for the United States Category:Presidential Medal of Freedom recipients Category:Presidential Citizens Medal recipients Category:Professional wrestling referees Category:People from Louisville, Kentucky Category:People from Paradise Valley, Arizona Category:Winners of the United States Championship for amateur boxers Category:African American Muslims Category:Converts to Islam Category:Former Nation of Islam members Category:Olympic medalists in boxing Category:Converts to Sufism
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Name | Sonny Liston |
---|---|
Nationality | American |
Realname | Charles L. Liston |
Nickname | Sonny The Big Bear |
Weight | Heavyweight |
Height | |
Reach | |
Birth date | Unknown |
Birth place | Sand Slough, Arkansas, USA |
Home | St. Louis, Missouri |
Death date | December 30, 1970 (aged about 38) |
Death place | Las Vegas, Nevada |
Style | Orthodox |
Total | 54 |
Wins | 50 |
Ko | 39 |
Losses | 4 |
Draws | 0 |
No contests | 0 }} |
Charles "Sonny" Liston was born into a sharecropping family who farmed the poor land of Morledge Plantation near Johnson Township, St. Francis County, Arkansas. His father, Tobe Liston, had been a widower in his fifties who had already fathered twelve children with his first wife when he and 16 year old Helen Baskin moved to Arkansas from Mississippi in 1916, they had 13 children together. Sonny is believed to have been the penultimate child and youngest son. When the mule died Liston's father forced him to pull the plow, he also endured beatings so severe that scars were still visible decades later. Helen Baskin moved to St. Louis with some of her children, leaving Sonny - aged around 13, according to his later reckonings - in Arkansas with his father. Soon afterward Sonny rose early, thrashed the pecans from his brother-in-law's tree and sold them in (Forrest City). With the proceeds he traveled to St. Louis and reunited with his mother and siblings. Liston tried going to school but quickly left after jeers about his illiteracy. At 16 years old he was 6' tall and weighed at over 200lbs, at first he tried working legitimately but what employment he could obtain was sporadic and exploitative.
Liston turned to crime and led a gang of toughs who carried out muggings and robberies, he always wore his favorite yellow and black checked shirt and soon became known to St. Louis PD as the "Yellow Shirt Bandit". In January 1950, he was caught after a gratuitously violent robbery he was convicted and, in June 1950, sentenced to five years in Missouri State Penitentiary. He gave his age as 20 years old, the St. Louis Globe-Democrat said he was 22.Liston never complained about prison, saying he was guaranteed three meals every day The athletic director at Missouri State Penitentiary, Father Alois Stevens, suggested to Liston he try boxing and his obvious aptitude, along with an endorsement from the priest, aided Liston in getting an early parole. Father Stevens organized a sparring session with a former pro light-heavyweight to showcase Liston's potential. After 2 rounds the ex-pro had taken enough. "Better get me out of this ring, he is going to kill me!" he exclaimed. On Halloween night in 1952, Liston was paroled. Much was later made of his being controlled by criminals. However, according to the priest who interested him in boxing, underworld figures became his management simply because they were the only ones willing to put up the necessary money.
Liston then entered the 1953 AAU event, but he lost in the quarter-finals to 17-year-old Jimmy Carter, whom he would later employ as a sparring partner. In the Kiel Auditorium in June 1953, Liston fought a boxer from a touring Western European side, Hermann Schreibauer, who only weeks earlier had won a bronze medal in the European Championships. Liston KO'd him 2:16 into round 1. At this time the head coach of the St. Louis Golden Gloves team Tony Anderson commented Liston was the strongest fighter he had ever seen.
Liston signed his professional contract in September 1953, only exclaiming during the signing, "Whatever you tell me to do, I'll do."
In 1955, he won six fights, five by knockout, including a rematch with Marshall, whom he knocked out in six rounds after first getting knocked down himself. A rubber match with Marshall in early 1956 saw Liston the winner in a ten-round decision. Liston's personal association with a notorious organized crime figure, compounded by his own criminal record, led to the police stopping him on sight, and he began to avoid main streets. In May he injured a police officer, and a widely publicized account of Liston resisting arrest even after nightsticks were broken over his skull was later to aid perceptions of him as a nightmarish thug. He was paroled after serving six months of a nine-month sentence and prohibited from boxing during 1957. After repeated overnight detention by the St. Louis police and a thinly veiled threat to his life, Liston left for Philadelphia. In 1958, he returned to boxing, winning eight fights that year. The year 1959 was a banner one for Liston: after knocking out Mike DeJohn in six, he faced No. 1 challenger Cleveland Williams, a huge (for the era) fast-handed fighter who was billed as the hardest-hitting heavyweight in the world. Along with the expected durability and punching power, Liston showed heretofore-unseen boxing skills, nullifying Williams' best work before stopping him in the third of an "incredible" contest that many thought his most impressive performance. He rounded out the year by stopping Nino Valdez, also in three.
In 1960, Liston won five more fights, including a rematch with Williams, who lasted only two rounds. Liston's imposing appearance was artificially enhanced with towels under his robe at referee's instructions; opponents would often be "psyched out" by the impact of his massive physique and baleful gaze. Liston had knockout wins over Roy Harris (one round) and top contender Zora Folley (three rounds). Seasoned Eddie Machen was the only contender to go the distance; however, his spoiling tactics of dodging and grappling (at one point almost heaving Liston over the ropes) so alienated the audience that Liston received unaccustomed support from the crowd. After years of being ducked Liston was indisputably the number-one contender, but the handlers of world heavyweight champion Floyd Patterson further stalled a match for the title, ostensibly because of Liston's links to organized crime. Civic leaders were also reluctant, worrying that Liston's unsavory character would set a bad example to youth, Jack Dempsey spoke for many when he was quoted as saying Sonny Liston should not be allowed to fight for the title. Liston angrily responded by questioning whether Dempsey's failure to serve in World War I qualified him to moralize. Frustrated, Liston changed his management and applied pressure through the media by remarking that Patterson (who had faced only white challengers since becoming champion) was drawing the color line against his own race.
The one-sided nature of the bout was a major surprise, as Liston's size and power proved too much for Patterson's guile and agility, and Patterson did not use his speed to his benefit. Sports Illustrated writer Gilbert Rogin characterized the fight as "bathetic", claiming Patterson didn't punch enough, sought to clinch with his far heavier opponent and repeatedly failed to tie up both Liston's arms. Liston bulled Patterson around while using his free hand to batter him with body blows before shortening up and connecting with two double hooks high on the head. It was the third-fastest knockout in a world heavyweight title fight and the first time the champion had been knocked out in round one. Rogin discounted speculation that Patterson had thrown the fight and suggested that "mental problems" had been responsible for his poor performance.
Run-ins with the police continued in Philadelphia. Liston particularly resented a 1961 arrest (by a black patrolman) for loitering, as he claimed to have merely been signing autographs and chatting with fans outside a drug store. One month later Liston was accused of impersonating a police officer by using a torch to wave down a female motorist in Fairmount Park, although all charges were later dropped. Subsequently Liston spent some months in Denver where a Catholic priest who acted as his spiritual adviser attempted to help him bring his drinking under control. After he won the title Liston relocated to Denver permanently, saying, "I'd rather be a lamppost in Denver than the mayor of Philadelphia."
On the evening of February 25, 1964 in Miami, Florida, he fought Cassius Clay, whom odds-makers had made a 7-1 underdog. Many of those watching were surprised during the referee's instructions to see that Clay was considerably taller than Liston, the so-called "Big Bear". When the fight started it became apparent that Liston was not in top condition. Although he initially got through with some hard punches to the body, Liston had little offensive success after round two. Clay found him easy to hit and began to score with his quick jab and long right; a cut opened on Liston's face in round three. Clay's vision became severely impaired during rounds four and five, but astonishing defensive skills enabled him to evade Liston nonetheless. Once Clay's eyes cleared, the fight became increasingly one-sided as he began to land at will; throughout the sixth Liston was mercilessly pummeled with combinations. Although Liston was losing he seemed able to continue, and it was a stunning surprise when he declined to come out for the seventh round, ostensibly because of a shoulder injury. One respected boxing figure claimed that after the fight Liston had picked up a heavy stuffed chair and tossed it across the locker room with his left arm. Liston quitting was thought particularly remarkable as he had once fought several rounds with a broken jaw. However, some writers have contended that Clay inflicted more punishment on Liston than is usually acknowledged and maintain that Liston's motivation was simply to spare himself further trauma. Another theory was that Clay's verbal prefight tirades had got to "the Ugly Bear". A more straightforward explanation was suggested by the promoter's allegation that the night before the bout Liston had been visibly inebriated.
Less than two minutes into the fight, while he was pulling away from Liston, Ali hit Liston with a punch that did not seem to have much weight behind it; Liston went down sprawling onto his back, but Ali did not go to a neutral corner as mandated by the rules and accordingly referee Jersey Joe Walcott never counted over Liston. Ali yelled hysterically at Liston, running around the ring, arms aloft. During this time Liston made an attempt to get back to his feet, before again rolling onto his back. After Liston finally got up, ringside boxing writer Nat Fleischer informed Walcott that Liston had been on the canvas for over 10 seconds and that the fight should be over. Walcott then waved the fight off, even though he had never counted Liston out. A photograph showing Ali standing over Liston is one of the most heavily promoted photos in the history of sports, and was chosen as the cover of the Sports Illustrated special issue, "The Century's Greatest Sports Photos". Ali was never to stop another opponent in the first round.
While Liston publicly denied taking a dive, Sports Illustrated writer Mark Kram said that years later Liston told him, “That guy [Ali] was crazy. I didn’t want anything to do with him. And the Muslims were coming up. Who needed that? So I went down. I wasn’t hit.” Former champions Jack Dempsey, Joe Louis, and Gene Tunney, as well as Ali opponents George Chuvalo and Floyd Patterson, have all stated that they consider the fight to be a fake. The extent to which Liston's heavy drinking and possible drug use may have contributed to his surprisingly poor performances against Clay/Ali is not known.
Some, however, believe that the police investigation was a coverup, and the cause of Liston's death remains unresolved. After winning the title, Liston at first refused to go on an exhibition tour of Europe when he was told he would have to get shots before he could travel overseas. Liston's wife also reported that her husband would refuse basic medical care for common colds because of his dislike of needles. This, coupled with the fact that Liston was never known to be a substance abuser (besides heavy drinking), prompted rumors that he could have been murdered by some of his underworld contacts. Sonny's wife had a vivid dream the night of December 28, in which Sonny was in a shower shouting "Help me, Geraldine, help me, Geraldine".
Additionally, authorities could not locate any other drug paraphernalia that Liston presumably would have needed to inject the fatal dose, such as a spoon to cook the heroin or an appendage to wrap around his arm. This only added to the mystery surrounding his death. A friend of Liston's told "Unsolved Mysteries" that Liston had been in a car accident a few weeks prior to his death. Liston was hospitalized with minor injuries, and received intravenous medicine. This is believed to be the source of the puncture wound that authorities found upon discovering Liston's body.
Sonny Liston is interred in Paradise Memorial Gardens in Las Vegas. His headstone bears the simple epitaph "A Man."
Category:1932 births Category:1970 deaths Category:African American boxers Category:Heavyweight boxers Category:International Boxing Hall of Fame inductees Category:People from St. Francis County, Arkansas Category:Boxers from Missouri Category:World Boxing Association Champions Category:World heavyweight boxing champions Category:Drug-related deaths in Nevada
ar:سوني ليستون bg:Сони Листън da:Sonny Liston de:Sonny Liston et:Sonny Liston es:Sonny Liston fr:Sonny Liston id:Sonny Liston it:Sonny Liston lv:Sonijs Listons nl:Sonny Liston ja:ソニー・リストン no:Sonny Liston pl:Sonny Liston pt:Sonny Liston ro:Sonny Liston ru:Листон, Сонни simple:Sonny Liston fi:Sonny Liston sv:Sonny ListonThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
name | Wayne Fontana |
---|---|
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Glyn Geoffrey Ellis |
birth date | October 28, 1945 |
origin | Manchester, Lancashire, England |
genre | Beat, pop |
occupation | Singer |
years active | 1962-present |
label | Fontana |
associated acts | The Mindbenders |
website | waynefontanauk.com |
past members | }} |
Wayne Fontana (born Glyn Geoffrey Ellis, 28 October 1945, Manchester, Lancashire) is an English pop singer. In 1962, he formed his backing group, the Mindbenders and got a recording contract.
In 2005, he fought off bankruptcy, but was arrested after police were called by bailiffs who went to his home in Glossop, Derbyshire. He poured petrol on to the bonnet of a car, and set it alight with a bailiff inside. Fontana was remanded in custody on 25 May 2007 in regard to the charge. He appeared at Derby Crown Court dressed as the lady of justice, with a sword, scales, crown, cape and dark glasses, claiming "justice is blind". He dismissed his lawyers. On 10 November 2007, he was sentenced to 11 months for setting fire to the car but was released because he had already served the equivalent of the term, held under the Mental Health Act 1983.
In March 2011 Fontana was arrested at the Palace Theatre, Manchester after failing to appear in court in Wakefield, West Yorkshire over an unpaid speeding fine.
Fontana continues to perform, notably in the 2008 Solid Silver Sixties Tour.
Category:British Invasion artists Category:1945 births Category:People from Manchester Category:Living people Category:English pop singers
de:Wayne Fontana & the Mindbenders hr:Wayne Fontana and the MindbendersThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
name | France Gall |
---|---|
background | solo_singer |
birth name | Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall |
alias | France Gall |
born | October 09, 1947Paris, France |
origin | Paris, France |
genre | Yé-yé, pop |
occupation | Singer |
years active | 1963–1995 |
label | WEA FrancePhilips France |
associated acts | Michel Berger, Serge Gainsbourg |
website | }} |
France Gall (born Isabelle Geneviève Marie Anne Gall on 9 October 1947 in Paris, France) is a popular French yé-yé singer.
Gall was married to, and had a successful singing career in partnership with, French singer-songwriter Michel Berger.
At the time, Bourgeois was working for the label as Artistic Director for Serge Gainsbourg and assumed this role for Gall as well. He encouraged her to record four tracks with French jazz musician, arranger and composer Alain Goraguer.
At the same time, Gall made her live debut, opening for Sacha Distel in Belgium. She teamed up with Distel's business manager, Maurice Tézé, who was also a lyricist. This allowed her to create an original repertoire, unlike the majority of her contemporaries ("yéyés") who sang adaptations of Anglophone hits. However, under the influence from this team of music veterans, Gall struggled to defend her personal choice of material.
In addition to songs written by her father, Gall's success in the 1960s was built on songs written by some of the biggest names among French composers and lyricists: Gérard Bourgeois, Jean-Pierre Bourtayre, Vline Buggy Pierre Cour, Joe Dassin, Jacques Datin, Pierre Delanoë, Jean Dréjac, Alain Goraguer, Hubert Giraud, Georges Liferman, Guy Magenta, Eddy Marnay, Jean-Michel Rivat, Jean-Max Rivière, Frank Thomas, Maurice Vidalin, André Popp, Gilles Thibaut, and Jean Wiener.
Gall's songs often featured lyrics based on a stereotypical view of the teenage mind. Elaborate orchestrations by Alain Goraguer blended styles, permitting her to navigate between jazz, children's songs, and anything in between. Examples of this mixed-genre style included "Jazz à gogo" (lyrics by Robert Gall and music by Goraguer) and "Mes premières vraies vacances" (by Datin-Vidalin).
Gall and Gainsbourg's association produced many popular singles, continuing through the summer of 1964 with the hit song "Laisse tomber les filles" ("Never Mind the Girls") followed by "Christiansen" by Datin-Vidalin. Gainsbourg also secretly recorded Gall's laughter to use on Pauvre Lola, a track on his 1964 album Gainsbourg Percussions. Her laughter is not credited.
Serge Gainsbourg said about the song: "The songs young people turn to for help in their first attempts at discovering what life and love are about, are sung by people too young and inexperienced to be of much help and condemned by their celebrity to find out." At a young age, France Gall was too naïve to understand the second meaning of the lyrics and she felt she was used by Gainsbourg, most notably after the song "Les Sucettes" – literally about a girl eating lollipops but with a double meaning referring to oral sex.
Today France Gall tries to not discuss it in public and refuses to perform her winning song.
In 1966 Gall appeared in the television film Viva Morandi, made in the same psychoanalytical mould as the (1965) Federico Fellini film Giulietta degli Spiriti ("Juliet of the Spirits"). Gall played "La Grâce" alongside Christine Lebail who plays "La Pureté", both singing Les Sucettes in a segment which was prominently labelled "Fantasy", in a clear reference to the song's sexual undertones.
She was approached by director Bernardo Bertolucci for the leading female role in Last Tango in Paris (1972). However, she firmly rejected this offer.
Gall once again considered appearing on screen in 1993 for a cinematographic collaboration with her best friend, the screenplay writer Telsche Boorman. Like the Disney film, this planned project was never completed due to the death of Boorman in 1996.
The public furore over Les Sucettes would throw Gall’s career off-track for years, and Gall was not left unscathed by the experience. She belatedly understood that she had been used: the song was deliberately conceived with the aim of attracting publicity. All her records which followed, even expunged of the Gainsbourg signature, would be suspiciously viewed as having crass commercial motivations. She interpreted a song dedicated to John Fitzgerald Kennedy Jr., Bonsoir John John . Sullied by her association with Gainsbourg, her songs failed to chart for a long time afterwards.
Even some of her children’s songs recorded in 1966, for example, Les Leçons particulières ("private lessons"), have not been spared pernicious assumptions. It was not helpful when Jean-Christophe Averty corrosively choreographed a troupe of men on all fours to illustrate her children's song J'ai retrouvé mon chien ("I’ve found my dog") on his television program Les Raisins verts ("Green grapes").
Her next single was recorded with the orchestration of English composer David Whitaker. New authors Frank Thomas and Jean-Michel Rivat were brought on board. They wrote Bébé requin (Baby Shark), a song which met with some success for Gall. This was followed by Teenie Weenie Boppie, an anti-LSD song by Gainsbourg, which was a huge flop. Gainsbourg then sang an anti-capital punishment song in tandem with Gall, Qui se souvient de Caryl Chessman? ("Anyone remember Caryl Chessman?"), about the death row prisoner, but this song never saw the light of day. Her next record C'est toi que je veux, again with Whitaker, also failed to make an impact.
She moved to a new record label, "La Compagnie", born from the association of artists Hugues Aufray, Nicole Croisille and Michel Colombier. At "La Compagnie", Gall made a number of recordings, but she never succeeded in finding a coherent style with Norbert Saada as Artistic Director. She went her own way in 1969 with two adaptations: one Italian and the other British: L'Orage / La Pioggia) ("The Storm") which she sang with Gigliola Cinquetti at the 1969 San Remo Music Festival, and Les Années folles ("Gentlemen Please"), created by Barbara Ruskin. Her songs Des gens bien élevés, La Manille et la révolution, Zozoï and Éléphants were largely ignored. Moreover, "La Compagnie" went bankrupt.
The early seventies continued to be a barren period for Gall. Although she was the first artist to be recorded in France for Atlantic Records in 1971, her singles C'est cela l'amour (1971) and Chasse neige (1971), faltered in the charts. In 1972, Gall, for the last time, recorded songs by Gainsbourg, Frankenstein and Les Petits ballons, but these also failed to chart. The results of her collaboration with Jean-Michel Rivat as artistic director, La Quatrieme chose (1972, suspiciously similar to Bread's "Everything I Own") and Par plaisir or Plus haut que moi (1973) did not meet with commercial success. While officially done with Gainsbourg, an old flame and producer from her Gainsbourg days, invited France Gall on television to sing a medley of old songs from their time together, which in included "Poupee de cire, Poupee de son". From the 1970s onwards, Gall started regularly visiting Senegal, which she loved. She bought her hideaway there on the island of N'Gor, close to Dakar in 1990.
Only 6 months later, in 1974, after she sang vocals on the song Mon fils rira du rock'n'roll on Berger's new album, Gall's publisher asked him, at her behest, to write for her. Gall had already made her mind up that "It will be him or else it will be nobody" (documentary France 3 France Gall by France Gall). Thus, in 1974, La Déclaration d'amour was to be the first in a long line of hits which marked a turning point in Gall’s career.
Meanwhile, the two artists, whose affinities became more than musical, married on 22 June 1976. France Gall shared years of work and family life with Michel Berger. The couple had two children.
In 1979, Gall took part in a new show which remains memorable for many. Composed by Michel Berger and written by the Québécois author Luc Plamondon, the rock opera Starmania enjoyed a success not usual for musicals in France. The show played for one month at Palais des congrès de Paris.
In 1982, Gall rehearsed in the Palais des Sports of Paris to present Tout pour la musique, an innovative spectacle marked by its use of electronic music. The songs Résiste and Il jouait du piano debout ("He played the piano standing") quickly became French pop standards.
At the same time, she gave a successful series of concerts lasting three weeks at the new venue Zénith in Paris, where she performed new songs like Débranche ("Loosen-up"), Hong-Kong Star, and gave solid acoustic performances of Plus haut, Diego libre dans sa tête and Cézanne peint.
In 1985 and 1986, Gall worked with Berger, Richard Berry, Daniel Balavoine and Lionel Rotcage for the benefit of Action Écoles, an organization of schoolboy volunteers which collects essential food products in France for African countries where famine and drought prevail. On 14 January 1986, during a trip to Africa, Balavoine tragically perished in a helicopter crash. In 1987, the song Évidemment, written by Berger and sung by Gall, was a moving homage to their lost friend. The song appeared on the album Babacar.
Gall topped the pop charts in many countries in 1987 and 1988 with another song from the Babacar album, Ella, elle l'a ("Ella, she's got it"), a Berger tribute to Ella Fitzgerald.
Following the release of Babacar, Gall launched a new show produced by Berger. Opening at Le Zénith, the successful production toured throughout Europe, and gave rise to the live album Le Tour de France '88.
Following the release of Double Jeu, Gall and Berger announced a series of concerts in various Parisian venues, such as La Cigale and Bercy. This project was nearly cancelled by Berger's death from a heart attack on 2 August 1992.
Although Gall was strongly affected by Berger's death, she wanted to complete the project they had planned. However, she decided to commit to the performances at the Bercy and promoted the songs that she and Berger created together. However, Gall was diagnosed with breast cancer in April 1993, which was successfully treated. She finally performed at the Bercy in September. All the songs she performed were written by Berger from Double Jeu, and from their discographies.
A year later, she went back on stage and performed in a new show in the Pleyel in Paris featuring new musicians. The repertoire featured songs written exclusively by Berger though Gall included her own versions of songs originally performed by others.
In 1996, Gall asked Jean-Luc Godard to produce the video clip of her song "Plus haut", taken from her album "France". Godard initially refused Gall's offer but later agreed, and directed a dreamy, picturesque video entitled "Plus Oh!" near his residence in Rolle (Switzerland). It was given its first and only airing on 20 April 1996 on the French television channel M6. It was only shown once, due to copyright issues.
After a year in Los Angeles, she released her eighth studio album, France in 1996. The album featured Gall's own interpretations of some of Michel Berger's songs. In 1996, Gall finally decided to appear as a headline artist at the legendary venue for French artists, the Paris Olympia. In 1997, she announced her retirement and recorded an unplugged show for French television showcasing songs from her final album.
In December 1997, Pauline, Gall's elder daughter with Michel Berger, died of complications of cystic fibrosis. Her illness was never made public.
Since the death of her daughter Gall has made only occasional public appearances. As a farewell to her career, a documentary movie was shot in 2001, France Gall par France Gall, directed by Eric Guéret. Nine million people tuned in to watch the documentary when it aired on French television that year. She also staged and appeared in the 2007 France 2 documentary "Tous pour la musique" marking the fifteenth anniversary of Michel Berger's death.
Today she is a patron for French charity Coeurs de Femmes – a group helping homeless women.
Category:1947 births Category:Living people Category:Musicians from Paris Category:French child singers Category:French female singers Category:French-language singers Category:German-language singers Category:Eurovision Song Contest winners Category:Luxembourgian Eurovision Song Contest entrants Category:Eurovision Song Contest entrants of 1965
ca:France Gall cs:France Gall da:France Gall de:France Gall el:Φρανς Γκαλ es:France Gall eo:France Gall fr:France Gall ko:프랑스 갈 it:France Gall he:פראנס גל lt:France Gall hu:France Gall nl:France Gall ja:フランス・ギャル no:France Gall pl:France Gall pt:France Gall ro:France Gall ru:Галль, Франс sl:France Gall sr:Frans Gal sh:France Gall fi:France Gall sv:France Gall tr:France GallThis text is licensed under the Creative Commons CC-BY-SA License. This text was originally published on Wikipedia and was developed by the Wikipedia community.
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