Cassius Marcellus Clay Sr. (November 11, 1912 – February 8, 1990) was an American painter and musician. He was the father of three-time World Heavyweight Champion
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
and
Rahaman Ali, and the paternal grandfather of
Laila Ali. He married
Odessa Lee O'Grady in 1934 and worked as a
painter. He was described as "a handsome, mercurial, noisy, combative failed dreamer" and a "hard-drinking, skirt-chasing dandy of a daddy". His son Muhammad Ali described him as "the fanciest dancer in Louisville".
Biography
Clay was born in
Jefferson County, Kentucky, to Herman H. Clay (March 1876 – February 1, 1954) and Edith E. Greathouse (December 1889 – December 30, 1972). He was named in honor of the 19th-century Republican politician and staunch abolitionist
Cassius Marcellus Clay. He had a sister and four brothers, including Nathaniel Clay.
Clay's paternal grandparents were John Clay and Sallie Anne Clay. His sister Eva said that Sallie was a native of
Madagascar
Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...
. According to DNA research,
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and social activist. A global cultural icon, widely known by the nickname "The Greatest", he is often regarded as the gr ...
's paternal grandmother was
Archer Alexander's (1816–1880) great-granddaughter.
Clay painted
billboards
A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large out-of-home advertising, outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboard ...
and
signs.
He also played the piano, took piano lessons and wrote music. Around 1933, he married
Odessa Lee O'Grady. He was a heavy drinker, which led to legal entanglements for reckless driving, disorderly conduct, and assault and battery.
When asked in 1970 why he had not become a
Muslim
Muslims () are people who adhere to Islam, a Monotheism, monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God ...
as his son had done, he said: "my religion is my talent, that which supports me."
Clay died at the age of 77 on February 8, 1990, after suffering a
heart attack
A myocardial infarction (MI), commonly known as a heart attack, occurs when Ischemia, blood flow decreases or stops in one of the coronary arteries of the heart, causing infarction (tissue death) to the heart muscle. The most common symptom ...
while leaving a department store in Kentucky.
[
]
Legacy
Clay was portrayed by Arthur Adams in the 1977 film '' The Greatest'' and by Giancarlo Esposito in the 2001 Oscar-nominated film '' Ali''.
References
*
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Clay, Cassius Marcellus
1912 births
1990 deaths
20th-century American painters
American male painters
American people of Malagasy descent
Family of Muhammad Ali
Artists from Louisville, Kentucky
Painters from Kentucky
African-American painters